Illegitimate Love
by Jetslinger
Summary: One night of passion can lead to a lifetime of happiness. At least, that's how it is in movies. NarutoxTenten. M for sex and language.
1. Chapter 1

**Illegitimate Love**

**By: Jetslinger**

**Summary: **One night of passion can lead to a lifetime of happiness. At least, that's what he hopes.

**AN: New story, new pairing. Always wanted to write a NaruTen!**

**Scene change: '---------------------------'**

**Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto.**

_Damnit._

Naruto slammed his fist into the coarse bark of the tree, reveling in the brief sting of pain that came with the brutal action. He wasn't worried about cuts or scars; the Kyuubi would fix everything in a matter of seconds, and as soon as he did, he slammed his fist into the tree again.

_It's not fair._

He felt miniscule amounts of the fox's sinister chakra began to seep out, but he didn't give a fuck. With the way he was feeling, he wouldn't mind using it to level Konoha himself. At least then he wouldn't have to see their happy, grinning faces everyday.

_She should be in love with__** me.**_

But he couldn't hate them. They were two of his closest friends, and as long as they were happy, he was happy. Or at least, that's what he tried to tell himself. He slammed his fist into the tree for the fifteenth time, finding that with each punch the pain lessened. The back of his eyeballs burned with tears, and he was suddenly finding it hard to breathe.

_What am I doing?_

He punched the tree once more, staring at the deep indentation left in the bark. It really was unfair; after rushing to the Wave Country, decimating a reincarnated Orochimaru, and bringing Sasuke back to Konoha, he was left with nothing. Sakura had immediately forgotten all about the guy who'd protected, loved, and been there for her for years. Naruto chuckled bitterly at his thoughts.

What had he expected? Did he really think that if he brought Sasuke back to her, she'd love him? It was a fool's dream to begin with. He could still feel the deep aching in his chest when he'd found the two of them making out on top of the Hokage Monument; _his_ favorite spot. If he didn't know any better, he'd say that they were mocking him.

He was so absorbed in his thoughts, that he neglected to sense the kunai heading straight for his lower back. The knife sliced into his flesh, digging deeply into the soft area next to his spine. Naruto cursed loudly. What kind of shinobi was he if he left himself open to such an obvious attack? Still, whoever had thrown the knife either had shitty aim, or they weren't intending to kill him. Wincing lightly, he speedily pulled the blade from his back and turned to greet his attacker -- only to blink in surprise as an obviously enraged Tenten stomped towards him.

The girl's dark brown eyes were glued to the ground in front of her, and she clenched her fists tightly at her sides as she looked for her stray kunai.

She was not having a good day.

And that was an understatement. Ever since she'd gotten out of bed that morning, her day had been steadily going downhill. First, her alarm clock had neglected to go off that morning. Normally, that wasn't such a big deal since she only had training with Neji, Lee, and Gai. However, this morning was special. Very special. The local grocery store was having a once-in-lifetime-half-off-of-everything-going-out-of-business sale, and she just so happened to be running extremely low on funds. Contrary to popular belief, the only shinobi who made any _real_ money were ANBU officers.

Needless to say, by the time she'd gotten to the store, there was nothing -- absolutely nothing -- left on the shelves. Hell, even the canned bear meat was sold out, and no one _ever_ ate that shit!

Unfortunately, that was only the start of her horrible day.

In her rush to get to the supermarket, she'd somehow managed to lose her purse -- the very same purse that contained her food money for the next week, her shinobi ID, makeup kit, and her favorite brand of perfume. Very _expensive_ perfume. The kind of perfume you'd have to whore yourself out for_weeks_ to buy.

In the shinobi world, that was pretty damn expensive.

Shortly after that, the heel of her left shoe had broken (How the hell is that even possible?!), a bucket of fish water had fallen on her head, she'd been chased around the village by a horde of hungry cats, fallen down a manhole, and run into a conveniently placed pole while swatting away flies and cats.

Oh, but that wasn't the end of it.

After returning home for a shower, she'd discovered that she had forgotten to pay her gas and electric bill. As such, the water was ice cold as it blasted against her lightly tanned skin. The shock was so overwhelming that she'd hopped out of the shower stall; only to trip over own feet and land flat on her face.

As if that wasn't enough, she'd ripped her favorite pair of pants while getting dressed again, accidentally dropped her shirt in the toilet, and spilled the last of her lotion all over the bed.

She scowled in remembrance of the day's events, kicking a random squirrel out of her way. Even when she was trying to let off some steam by training, she somehow managed to mess up. One of her kunai had slipped out of her hand as she was throwing it and sped off into the forest behind her.

It just wasn't fair. Maybe the Demon Lord of Fate was after her now, finally bored of fucking with her uptight teammate Neji. Yes, that had to be it. She stalked into the clearing to look for kunai, eyes feverently searching the ground for any sign of the lost weapon. She knew it was around her somewhere; she'd seen it head off in this direction as soon as it had left her hand.

"Looking for this?" a monotone voice asked, a hint of annoyance in the man's tone. She snapped her head up to see Uzumaki Naruto staring at her with a less than pleased frown on his face. Her eyes widened in shock, and she immediately closed the distance between them with fear.

"Oh, no! Don't tell me that hit you! I'm sorry! I'm so, so, sorry! It just slipped out of my hand and --"

"It's okay, it just nicked me," he lied, feeling somewhat relieved by her worried reaction. Granted, it was probably because she didn't want to have to pay any medical bills or recompensate him for pain and suffering, but it was nice to have someone worrying over him for once. Tenten glared up at him disbelievingly, crossing her arms underneath her chest.

"You're lying. The Demon Lord's been using me as his personal riding bitch today, so I _know_ it did more than nick you. Let me see it." Naruto lifted a slightly confused eyebrow, feeling his previous anger slowly ebb away.

"The Demon Lord?" The young woman blushed lightly and shook her head, embarrassed at having mentioned her made up antagonist out loud. Her eyes drifted to the deep, fist-sized crater in the tree behind him, causing her to furrow her brows in slight worry. There looked like there was blood inside and around the edges of the hole, but a brief glance at his knuckles relieved her of her momentary panic. Brushing the issue off, she turned her gaze back to the waiting blond in front of her.

"Uh, nothing. And stop changing the subject! Where did it hit you?"

"I told you, it didn't really hit me."

"Liar! Then just show me!"

"Wait a few seconds."

"Huh? No! What if you're bleeding to death?! If you don't show me the wound, I'll find it myself!" Mildly annoyed, Naruto lifted his arms out to his sides and spread his legs, essentially assuming the position. If she wanted to find it, he wouldn't make it easy on her.

"Go ahead." She blinked in surprise at the willing gesture, but slowly stepped up until she was standing directly in front of him. She didn't know why she was doing this; if he said he was fine, he was fine. Still, if he suddenly passed out and died from blood loss, she didn't want to have to explain to her mentor how she'd accidentally killed the woman's foster brother.

Tenten glanced up to look at his frowning face before slowly reaching a shaky hand towards his bright orange shirt. A simple black plus sign sat directly in the center of the garment, enclosed by a small circle. She hesitantly lifted the hem of his shirt above his belly button, searching for any sign of blood. It was a lot tougher since she didn't know exactly where she'd hit him, and she hoped against hope that it was somewhere that wouldn't require the removal of his pants.

On second thought, she'd better not hope for much.

Taking a deeper breath, she lifted his shirt all the way up to his chest. Her eyes nearly gawked at the pounds of muscle adorning his torso, and she wondered what the hell kind of training he had done to get those kinds of results. The only people she knew that had a body like that were Gai and Lee, and they trained nearly every hour on the hour. A brief shudder went through her as she remembered the first and last time she'd seen the two of them topless. That was something she hoped to never, ever see again.

She shook her head to concentrate on the matter at hand, scolding herself for becoming distracted by the boy's physique. She briefly ran her eyes over his front, and finding nothing wrong, moved around until she standing behind him. Repeating the steps she'd taken on the other side of his body, she scanned his back for any sign of damage.

Surprisingly enough, Naruto had been telling the truth when he said the knife had just nicked him. There was nothing but a tiny pink cut next to his spine, surrounded by a small smidgen of blood. Still feeling a bit guilty, she used the sleeve of her white top to wipe away the red fluid.

"See? Told you," Naruto called, glancing over his shoulder to look at the smaller girl.

"That doesn't change the fact that I hit you." She lowered his shirt and paused in thought. To be completely honest, she'd never paid much attention to the younger boy in all her years of knowing him. Sure, she'd been mildly impressed when he had beaten Neji in the Chuunin Exams, but that was as far as her interest in him went. Admittedly, her interest had spiked again when she'd heard that Naruto had brought Tsunade, her mentor and one of the Legendary Sannin, back to Konoha to serve as the Godaime Hokage.

All of a sudden, she wished that she'd taken a little bit more interest in him than she had. Then, maybe this situation wouldn't be so dreadfully awkward. She stepped around the jounin until she was standing directly in front of him, looking both miffed and apologetic.

"I'd offer to treat you to some ramen or something, but I lost my purse earlier today." The boy curiously titled his head, for the first time since she'd arrived showing an emotion other than annoyance. He dug around in his loose black pants for a few seconds before emerging with, to her absolute shock, a small brown pocketbook.

"Is this yours?" Tenten reached out and took the item from his hand, staring at it in awe. She was certain she'd never see it again! Despite Konoha being the supposedly most noble ninja village of them all, over half of the shinobi and civilian population were immoral bastards. If they thought that they could get away with it, the fuckers would steal your money, kill you, rape your dead body, and set it on fire before attempting to put the flames out with their own piss.

Really; she'd seen it happen.

"Yes! Thank you!"

"So, about that ramen..." The young woman shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly, completely unaware of exactly how much ramen the boy could put away in one sitting.

"Sure, I _did_ say I'd treat you." She watched amused as his eyes lit up with joy, and he grabbed her arm to lead her to the Market District. His grip was a lot stronger than she would've expected; maybe he thought she was going to make a run for it.

The two of them practically ran through the crowded streets of Konoha towards his favorite ramen stand, bobbing and weaving through the crowds at an alarmingly fast pace. While he was able to avoid touching most of the people on the narrow road, Tenten wasn't so lucky. She'd bumped, crashed, grinded, and thoroughly dry-humped nearly every person they'd run past, leaving her feeling more than a little violated. Tugging roughly on the blond's hand, she managed to slow him down long enough for her to catch her breath.

"Why...why are y-you in such...a rush?" she stammered out between pants, resting her hands on her red clothed knees. He smiled a bit sheepishly, scratching at the back of his head with a hesitant hand.

"Sorry, I guess I got a bit carried away. You're the first person my age to treat me to ramen." Tenten's eyebrows lifted a bit in surprise at this new bit of information. She would've thought that at least Sakura would buy him a couple of bowls considering how long they'd known each other. Still, she was a bit annoyed that he'd left her in the dust, and placing her dainty hands on her waist, she glared up at him.

"And I'll be the last if this is how you treat the people who do you favors." Naruto stared down at her incredulously, mouth opening in shock.

"What?! You're only doing this because you stabbed me with a fucking kunai!"

"Hey! It was an accident, and it only nicked you! As far as I'm concerned, I don't owe you anything!" The blond furrowed his brows, his glare never wavering for a second. He couldn't argue; no matter how much he wanted to tell her that the kunai had indeed stabbed him in the lower back, and that she owed him a whole lot more, he couldn't. That'd require that he tell her everything. His gaze suddenly turning cold, he turned his back on the shorter girl.

"You're right, you don't owe me anything." Ironically, the same could be said for his situation with Sakura. She didn't owe him anything, either. Just because he'd brought back Sasuke didn't mean that she was required to go out with him. In the back of his mind, he'd known that he didn't have a chance anyway. He felt his eyes began to burn with tears, and cursing his own weakness, began to walk away.

Tenten watched his back with no small amount of confusion. Okay, there was definitely something wrong with him. Although she didn't know him that well, she did know that the normal Naruto would still be standing in front of her, yelling at the top of his lungs to get his point across. She'd never heard of him backing away from a fight no matter how hopeless or trivial it was, and feeling slightly concerned (and guilty), jogged after him.

"Naruto, wait up!" she called, doing her best to avoid the many patrons crowding the walkway. She sighed in relief when he actually listened, and easily managed to catch up in a few seconds. "Look, I was just kidding around when I said it'd be the last time; I didn't think you'd take it to heart. I'll still treat you if you want to go." The blond felt the beginnings of guilt welling up inside of him. Being pissed off about Sasuke and Sakura's relationship didn't give him the right to yell at someone else. He pasted a false grin on his face and grabbed her wrist again, this time much gentler than he had the first time.

"Yosh! Let's go!" They were only a skip and a hop from the restaurant, so it took the two of them all of five minutes to get there. Naruto stepped into the small ramen stand, followed by a slightly hesitant Tenten. "Oi, old man! A bowl of miso!" he yelled, instantly feeling a little better inside of the small restaurant. The shop owner turned around in surprise, staring at Naruto as if he'd grown another head.

"Not that I'm complaining, but didn't you already eat lunch here earlier?" The man asked, eyebrows raised well into his forehead. It was rare that the boy would stop by the small stand more than once a day. Naruto jerked his thumb towards the brown haired girl at his side, his fake grin widening a bit more.

"She's treating." Teuchi shot Tenten a look of pity before turning back to the stove to prepare some noodles.

"Ah, I see." He turned his head enough to look at the confused girl. "What'll you have?"

"Um...a bowl of vegetable ramen and a bottle of sake, please." Noticing the blond's shocked stare, she scowled and crossed her arms under her chest. "What?! Shinobi are allowed to drink at the age of sixteen, and I'm eighteen!" She didn't know why she was defending herself in the first place.

"Yeah, but, _why_?" Tenten, feeling a bit patronized by his question, stiffly shrugged her shoulders.

"Because it helps to get my mind off things. A lot of bad stuff happened today, and I plan to get drunk enough to forget all about them." With the same annoyingly shocked stare on his face, he tilted his head in his trademark fashion, looking straight into Tenten's brown eyes. To be honest, he'd never understood why people drank sake in the first place. The stuff tasted like a mix between vinegar and the dirty water left over after washing his underwear. In other words, like shit. Still, curiosity won out over his surprise, and he regarded the girl with a small frown.

"What kind of stuff?" The girl felt like laughing out loud at the innocent question. God, where did she begin? Turning around on her stool so that she was facing him, she began to relay each and every horrible thing that had happened to her, often evoking a loud snort or chuckle from Naruto. They were so wrapped up in their conversation that neither of them paid much attention to the food when it arrived; and that was quite a shock considering the boy's penchant for ramen.

"...and finally, I accidentally nicked one of my comrades in the back with the lost kunai." He laughed again and turned to his now lukewarm ramen, shoveling a mouthful of the dish into his mouth.

"Sounds like a rough day," he commented, swallowing the food in his mouth. Tenten laughed along with him and poured herself a small saucer of sake.

"Rough doesn't begin to describe it. I'm just glad that the Demon Lo-- uh, that the day's almost over." She downed the serving of alcohol in one gulp, reveling in the familiar bitter taste that accompanied the drink. The tingling burn she felt seemed to rejuvenate her tired body, and let out a loud sigh as she felt the liquid settle in her belly. "So, what about you? What were you doing way out on the twentieth training field?" Watching his face, she noticed that his expression seemed to darken a bit.

"The same thing you were doing." Abandoning the conversation, he turned his full attention to the cooling food in front of him, shoving another mouthful of noodles into his mouth. Not one to be easily put off, Tenten leaned forward until she literally raping his personal space.

"You were letting off steam too? What for?" When he didn't answer, she slid a saucer of sake over to the eating blond. If all else fails, get them drunk. He stared down at the shallow cup with a small frown, already reeling from the strong, bitter smell of the alcohol. "What's wrong?" Tenten asked, a challenging grin appearing on her face. "Is the great Uzumaki Naruto afraid of a little sake?" The blond growled in the back of his throat, doing his best to tune the girl out. "I thought you never backed down from a challenge. Pfft, I should've known you were all talk and no action."

"Shut up!" he roared, startling the old man behind the counter. He grabbed the shallow dish and downed the drink in one gulp, missing the wide grin that was breaking out on Tenten's face. She began to laugh when he choked and sputtered because of the burn that accompanied the strong liquid.

"Well, what do you know, you do have some balls! Here, have another." She refilled his dish and stared at him expectantly. After recovering enough to speak, Naruto shot her his meanest glare and pushed the cup away.

"No way! That shit almost killed me!"

"What, this stuff?" Lifting the dish to her mouth, she easily swallowed the alcohol without so much as a cough. "Only a wimp couldn't handle a little sake." To be honest, she was already starting to feel the effects of the alcohol in her system. Naruto looked just a little bit blurry as compared to a few seconds ago.

"Fine! Gimme that!" He snatched the cup off of the counter, boisterously drinking and swallowing another serving. He somehow managed to avoid choking, and satisfied that he'd successfully downed the fluid, shot her a challenging grin. "Easy." Unfortunately for him, Tenten wasn't quite done.

She motioned for the shop owner to bring her another couple of bottles of sake, much to the old man's chagrin. It wasn't his place to tell a customer what they should and shouldn't be doing, and as much as he wanted to put a stop to the drinking game, he knew nothing short of knocking the teens out would end their dangerous play. With a heavy sigh, he placed two more bottles onto the counter, frowning as the girl immediately set about refilling their saucers.

"Two cups?" she taunted, staring him in the eyes, "Only a bitch can't handle more than that." She threw back another serving of sake before slamming it back down, grinning when he did the same. She watched amused as his eyes seemed to cross for a second, and briefly wondered if hers were doing the same.

The game continued for many more rounds, each of them managing to get down fifteen servings of sake. By now the entire restaurant was blurry except for certain items coming in and out of focus at random times. She suddenly remembered her original goal, and casually drinking another saucer of sake, she turned in the direction she_believed_ Naruto was seated.

"So, what was you pissed off 'bout?" she slurred, body wavering ever so slightly. The blond too drank another cup and shrugged.

"Iunno, seems sorta stupid now. I saw Sakura-chan 'n Sasuke-teme makin' out and shit, so I fucked up 'da first thing I sawed. Know what's real fucked up? I brought 'da bastard back for her, 'n she started fuckin' 'em the first chance she got!" As if understanding what he was saying (when she really didn't), Tenten gaily nodded her head.

"Yeah man, dats some fucked up shit there. I know what dat shit feels like." The ramen store owner could only shake his head in exasperation as Tenten tilted one of their many bottles into the air, swallowing everything that was left in the small white container. "Oi, old man! Gimme anudder!" she yelled, slamming her hand on the countertop. Finally drawing the line, Teuchi grabbed the empty bottles and pulled them back into the kitchen, tossing them into the recycle bin sitting next to the sink.

"I'm cutting you two off for the night. I don't want to be responsible for you guys getting alcohol poisoning." The kunoichi growled viciously and flipped the man off with a perfectly manicured finger, pushing herself into what she assumed was a standing position.

"Fuck you, tosser! C'mon Naruto, lets get outta here." The blond too shot the surprised store owner a middle finger, and tossing some bills onto the wooden surface, staggered out of the roadside stand with Tenten leaning against him for support. Teuchi could only sigh as the two of them ran smack dab into a telephone pole, nearly causing it to uproot and fall over. If those two were supposed to be Konoha's future, they were _all_ fucked.

"Shit, man, didya see da look on that punk bitch's face when we flipped 'im off?" Tenten practically shouted as they swaggered towards the residential district. Naruto laughed out loud, showing every one of his clear white teeth.

"Hell yeah! Fuck, yer fuckin' badass for a chick, you know dat? I'm fuckin' serious man, you're like the awesomest bitch I know!" The kunoichi joined him in his laughter, having to hold her arm out in front of herself to keep them from falling over.

"Nah, dude, you're pretty boss yerself! Shit, I dunno why the hell you don't got a girlfriend. You a fag or somethin'?" He laughed again, nearly tripping over his own feet for the fifth time since they'd set out for...

"Oi, where da hell're we goin' anyway?" Naruto asked, the first smart thing that had come out of his mouth since they'd began drinking. Tenten flashed him a flirtatious grin. There were two types of drunks in the world; happy drunks, and sad drunks. Happy drunks tended to become exceedingly horny, flirtatious, and, well, happy. Sad drunks tended to become suicidal, depressed, and an all around horrible person to be around. Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on your point of view), Tenten was a happy drunk.

"To my place." She led him up the stairs to her flat, holding onto the railing for dear life as she ascended. It didn't help that the entire world was spinning around her, nor that she was having trouble figuring out which was way up and which way was down.

Luckily for both of them, her apartment was the first door at the top of the stairs; otherwise, there was a strong chance that one or both of them would've fallen over the protective railing fencing in the second floor. After fumbling around in her deep red pants for two minutes looking for her keys, she pouted slightly and glanced back at the blond behind her.

"Help me out here, I can't find my fuckin' keys!" Naruto blinked in confusion for a few seconds, staring at her as if she'd grown another head. He eventually understood what she wanted him to do, and with a small grunt, he jammed his large hands into her back pockets to help her look. The girl squealed loudly at the contact, uncharacteristically breaking out into a fit of giggles. "Fuckin' perv!" Grinning widely, Naruto squeezed her ass through her pants, causing her to shriek again.

She pressed herself snugly up against his larger body, shivering when she felt his shallow breath against her neck. He reeked of ramen and cheap sake; but then again, so did she. The feel of something hard pressing into her lower back caused her to freeze momentarily, and she shifted her position a bit to find a more comfortable spot. It wasn't until he groaned softly into her ear that she understood what the object that had been poking her was. Giggling once again, she deliberately rubbed herself against him, pretending to still be searching for her keys.

For his part, Naruto felt like he was in heaven and hell at the same time. The immense amounts of pleasure he was receiving was murder on his nervous system, and he briefly wondered if it was her goal to drive him mad with her teasing. Luckily for him, he was temporarily put of his misery when she finally emerged with a small set of keys.

"Found 'em!" she exclaimed, jiggling the pieces of metal in front of his eyes. She reluctantly stepped away from his body, and after two or three (read: nine or ten) tries, managed to smoothly slip the correct key into the lock. She quickly opened and stumbled into the door, loudly banging the doorknob against the adjacent wall. Her mind didn't even register the noise, however, as she was focused on one thing and one thing only: Naruto.

Tenten pulled him into her apartment and shut the door behind him as if sealing his fate. Her eyes were dark with lust, and rushing up to the equally horny blond, she roughly shoved him up against the door and slammed her lips to his in a sloppy kiss. Their hands roamed over each other's bodies, feeling, touching, and thoroughly molesting everything they could. It hadn't even occurred to her that this was her first kiss, nor that she had absolutely no idea what or why she was doing it. All she knew was that it felt damn good.

She forcefully shoved her tongue into his mouth, briefly recalling the stories Ino had told her about her many conquests with the shinobi population. That simple action provided twice as much pleasure as meager lip on lip contact did, and she moaned in joy when Naruto's tongue joined hers in an oral wrestling match. The battle for dominance was incredibly fierce as both ninja fought for control -- a battle which Tenten quickly lost when his hands somehow managed to snake their way up her shirt to loosely cup her breasts.

"N-Naruto..." she moaned, breaking the kiss to tilt her head back in bliss. This was far better than any romance novel or story she'd ever heard, and ten times more intense. What the fuck had she been missing out on for all of these years?! She moaned again when he attacked the newly exposed skin of her neck, licking and sucking at the tender flesh as if his life depended on it. It felt so fucking good that she couldn't help but wonder if he'd done this before.

Not wanting to be so easily outdone, she slipped her hands into the front of loose black pants, sliding the appendages lower and lower until they gripped something both hard and soft at the same time. She couldn't help but marvel at how hot the pulsing organ was, and how large it felt in comparison to her calloused hands. A smile broke out on her face when he stopped his attack on her neck long enough to groan, and she instantly knew that she'd gained control again.

She slowly began to pump the throbbing rob resting in her hands, reveling in the soft moans and whimpers coming from Naruto's throat. It was almost as if she were holding all of the world's power in her hands -- a power great enough to bring even the strongest of men to their knees. So absorbed in her miniature power trip, Tenten missed the removal of his hands from her breasts until he had easily hefted her up by her thighs, bringing her high enough to where he could freely capture her lips in another bone searing kiss.

"Bedroom," he muttered, breaking the lip lock long enough for her to answer. She pointed to her left and latched her lips onto his again, hanging on for dear life as he walked the both of them to her queen-sized bed. Unfortunately for both of them, Naruto found it nearly impossible to navigate through the dark apartment drunk; even moreso with a vigorously active girl in his arms. After much stumbling, crashing, and pain, he eventually made it to the oh-so-holy sanctuary known as Tenten's bedroom.

Without so much as a warning, he threw her back first onto the feather filled mattress before jumping onto the bed after her, fully intending to continue their amorous activities. He wasn't counting on Tenten expertly rolling him onto his back so that she was straddling him. He watched wide eyed as she reached into the pouch still attached to the back of her pants and emerged with a single sharpened kunai, effortlessly slicing the shirt open down the front and ripping it off of him.

"Didya really have to do that?" he asked, panting in both nervousness and exertion. Rather than answer, she eagerly attached her lips to his left nipple, sucking ferociously on the small protruding bud. She smiled around the teat when he began to writhe under her, and quickly brought her other hand up to massage the right one. She switched sides after almost a minute of this, connecting her mouth to the right nipple and using her hand to toy with the other. "God, Tenten..."

Having had enough of her delicious torture, he suddenly sat up on the bed, evoking a small 'meep' from the smaller girl on top of him. Naruto grabbed the bottom of her shirt and began to pull it up, smirking slightly when she earnestly lifted her arms above her head to assist him.

"Like what you see?" Tenten teased, cupping her breasts for added effect. She was exceedingly glad that she'd foregone wearing a bra that day, as that was one less step they had to go through. Her smile widened when she realized that he was still stuck on her chest, and she took that chance to quickly unbuckle his pants and pull both them and his boxers off of him. That same smile turned into a 'o' of shock as she got a good look at what he was working with.

The thing had to be every bit of seven inches long; pretty impressive considering what she'd heard and read about a man's penis. For the first time since they'd started, she felt a small bit of fear edging out the overwhelming lust permeating throughout her body. She wasn't sure if that thing would fit in her admittedly petite body without bursting through her cervix first. Luckily for both of them, her lust far outweighed the fear, and she hurriedly stripped off her own pants and panties and straddled the now very nervous Naruto. She gripped his pulsating rod and placed at the entrance to her vagina, biting her lip as she stared down into his cerulean blue eyes.

"Scared?" He slowly shook his head, a tiny smile appearing on his still somewhat childish face.

"Hell no."

"Good." Closing her eyes tightly, she leaned forward and captured his lips in another kiss before all but slamming herself down onto him. While it did hurt a bit, the pain wasn't nearly as bad as she'd thought it would be. She chalked the small phenomenon up to the fact that she was a kunoichi, drunk, and that her hymen had been broken years ago while training. Still, she broke the kiss and leaned forward onto his chest, struggling to get used to the feeling of having something so large inside of her. It was a strange feeling, but not at all unpleasant; she felt, well, _full._

"Are you okay?" Naruto asked, awkwardly rubbing her back as she leaned against him. She nodded into his chest, and as if confirming her answer, Tenten slowly began to move against him. The effect was immediate. Both jounin gasped out in pleasure, unused to the intense feelings emanating from their conjoined genitals. Everything they'd done up until this point was like child's play compared to the main event. She paused momentarily to catch her breath, barely able to believe that something so simple could feel so fucking good. She rested for a few more seconds before resuming their act, grinding against him at a much quicker pace than before. Every nerve in her body felt like it was being dipped into a pool of molten lava, and she was forced to leave her mouth wide open lest she suffocate.

Naruto placed light, slow kisses along the left side of her neck and collarbone, wrapping his right arm around her waist to help her slide against him. It took every ounce of his concentration not to explode right there, and if he didn't do something to distract himself, he wouldn't last more than a minute. With that thought in mind, he brought his left hand up to her breasts, idly rubbing and pinching the nipples. Her moans intensified considerably, and he suddenly felt her begin to speed up against him.

"Fuck, I'm not gonna last long if you go that fast..." Still, Tenten paid him no mind and increased her pace even more, shaking the entire bed with her movements. She was exceedingly glad that her mattress was stuffed with feathers rather than coil springs -- otherwise, she was certain that she would've awaken the entire building with her activities. Her face slick with sweat, she once again leaned forward to kiss him, practically jamming her tongue down his throat in the process. She distantly noted that the buns in her had come loose, and as such, her long, shoulder blade length hair was bouncing freely around them, occasionally smacking one or both of them in the face. The slow burning in the bottom of her stomach was now a raging maelstrom, and breaking off the kiss once again, she leaned back to fully enjoy the pleasures Naruto was bestowing upon her.

"N...Naruto," she stuttered, her eyelids half closed and her mouth wide open. "I...I'm..." At that moment, her body suddenly stiffened and jerked on top of him, a loud shriek tearing it's way out of her throat as her eyes shot open in bliss. She felt herself thrown into vicious spasms, and her toes curled and uncurled with delicious pleasure. Shortly after, her partner joined her in the throes of passion.

"Agh, shit!" he yelled, feeling himself begin to jerk and spasm like Tenten had done only moments before. He felt something shoot out of his painfully erect penis as his body exploded in pleasure, and he tightly closed his eyes to clear away the millions of stars flying around in front of him. It took both of them a full three minutes to come down from the temporary high known as an orgasm, and the two jounin relaxed against each other in post-coital bliss. It was easily the most thrilling and heart pumping encounter that either of them had ever had the pleasure of experiencing.

Naruto slowly leaned back until he was fully reclining against the soft, downy mattress. The brunette lay wantonly on top of him, already feeling unconsciousness begin to creep in at the edges of her vision.

"That...that was fuckin' amazin'," Tenten drawled, leaning her head on his muscular chest. The blond below her laughed lightly.

"Amazin' don't begin to describe that." She nodded her head minutely to show that she agreed before closing her eyes to get some well deserved rest.


	2. Chapter 2

**Illegitimate Love**

**Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto.**

**Chapter 2**

Tenten groggily opened her eyes, quickly narrowing her dark brown orbs in a futile attempt to block out the sunlight. Groaning, she pushed herself up onto her haunches -- a move that she quickly regretted when her head began to pound and throb as if a miniature parade of hippos were gaily stomping around inside of her brain.

On second thought, it felt more like an alien chestburster was trying to claw it's way out of her forehead. Yes, that was much closer to what she was feeling. She shivered lightly from the cool morning air, and deciding that she _really _didn't need to meet her team for training, lie back down on the warm, fleshy surface of her bed.

It took her all of five seconds to realize that beds weren't supposed to be warm and fleshy, but instead, soft and cozy. Panicking, she pushed herself up into a crawling position and looked down at the lightly tanned skin below her. It looked like someone's chest, and a male's at that. Staring down at her own state of undress, she instantly made the heart stopping connection that she'd slept with him.

His heavily muscled chest rose and fell every few seconds, signaling that whoever it was was probably still asleep, and she closed her eyes in silent prayer for the Demon Lord to grant her just one, simple little wish:

Please, _please_ don't let it be Gai or Lee.

Holding her breath in anxiousness, she opened her eyes and took a good look at the person's face. She let the breath go in relief when, instead of one of her gallantly youthful teammates, one Uzumaki Naruto lie unconscious beneath her.

Shortly after, she screamed.

Naruto snapped awake in an instant, hopping up and nearly throwing the girl on top of him onto the floor. His eyes were wide with panic as he quickly and efficiently scanned the room for enemy shinobi, his body smoothly transitioning into a basic defensive stance.

That was a mistake. Not even a second later, his body crumbled to the floor in agony, and he was forced to hold his throbbing blond head in his hands.

"Agh! Damnit!" he yelled, pressing his forehead against the cool carpet of her room. He was hard pressed to think of a time when he'd ever experienced so much pain at once, and it took every ounce of his willpower not to begin slamming his head against the floor in an attempt to relieve some of the pain.

It didn't help that Tenten was still screaming.

Luckily for him, she finally ran out of breath, panting with both exertion and what he presumed to be fear. It took him a few more seconds, but eventually Naruto pulled himself off of the floor and grabbed one of her bed sheets.

"Here," he muttered, holding the cloth out with blushing cheeks. Tenten snatched the white sheet from his hand and wrapped it around herself, glaring up at him the entire time.

"What the hell?!" she screamed, eyes filled with murderous intent. "Why_ you?!_" The blond frowned lightly, unsure of how to take the question. He managed to find his bright orange boxers and slip them on, plopping back down on the girl's feather stuffed bed.

"Hey, don't ask me! The last thing I remember was that you were treating me to ramen, and then..." a light bulb seemed to literally appear above his head, and he pointed an accusing finger at the half naked kunoichi. "It's your fault! You made me drink sake, got me drunk, and then brought me back here and raped me!"

Tenten's mouth dropped open. Was he stupid? Annoyed by his (obviously) false accusation, she stood to her feet and pointed a finger right back at him.

"How do I know _you_ didn't rape _me_?! You might've just been _pretending_ to drink the sake, and instead waited until I was drunk enough for you to get your rocks off!"

"Shut up! Stop trying to shift the blame onto me! It's your fault for forcing me to drink that shit in the first place!"

"My fault?! Hey, don't blame me because you're so easily susceptible to peer pressure!" Naruto gaped like a fish out of water, unable to find a viable argument. Well, fuck; she was right. The girl let out a tired sigh, rubbing at her forehead with the palm of her hand. "All of this yelling is making my head hurt, and it isn't getting us anywhere. I'm gonna make some coffee." She grabbed the bathrobe hanging on the doorknob of her bedroom door and quickly slipped it over her shoulders, allowing the bedsheet to pool around her ankles.

Tenten limped out of the large room, wincing as she felt a few of the bones in her lower back snap back into place. Every area of her body dully throbbed with pain; especially the small area around her pelvis. Still, she was strangely satisfied to see that Naruto too had a little bit of trouble walking to her kitchen. At least she gave as good as she got.

The blond slowly eased himself into one of her small kitchen chairs, wincing at the tenderness of his prize and joy. He didn't know what the hell had happened last night, but for some reason, it felt as if a band of wild gorillas had literally had their way with him. He quickly shook his head to rid himself of that train of thought lest it go to places he'd rather not explore.

"Want coffee?" she asked, the question coming out as more of a statement than an actual inquiry. Seeing his puzzled expression, she sighed and rested an impatient hand on her hip. "It's good for hangovers. Well? You want it or not?"

"Uh, yeah, sure." She sighed again and scratched at her unruly brown hair, frowning at how tangled it had gotten in only one night. Giving up on the mess of knots for the time being, Tenten leaned her back against the sink and shot him a murderous glare.

"Listen, I don't know who did what or why, but don't read too much into it. No matter how you look at it, last night was an accident. There will _not_ be a repeat performance." Naruto rolled his eyes and snorted, matching her glare with an indignant frown of his own.

"I'm glad we agree on _something_ -- even if this is your way of trying to split the blame between us when it was obviously your fault." She growled under her breath and stood upright again.

"You're _still _saying that?! You should be lucky that I'm letting you off so easy for taking my virginity! Do you know how hard it's been to maintain my innocence for all these years?!"

"Of course I do! You took my virginity too!" An awkward silence settled over the two jounin at his loud proclamation. Tenten wanted to say something -- anything -- but her brain refused to come up with a viable remark. Naruto turned his head away in what she presumed to be shame. "Anyway, what's done is done. If it's okay with you, I'd like to forget this entire thing happened." The kunoichi grunted in a very unladylike fashion, crossing her arms over the front of her tightly secured robe.

"That's the smartest thing you've said all day." The shrill whistle of the kettle interrupted them before Naruto could retaliate with a snide statement of his own. Tenten hurriedly pulled the screaming pot off of the stove and poured the scalding liquid into a couple of mugs already laced with a few spoonfuls of instant coffee.

"Need help?" Naruto asked from the small dining room, noticing the tough time she was having balancing the tray that held both the cups and condiments in one hand and a small pitcher of milk in the other. She shook her head slightly and wobbled over to the table, letting loose a sigh when she finally placed the items onto the hardwood surface before setting herself down in the only remaining chair. She immediately set to work adding in milk and sugar, stirring the contents with a tiny spoon she'd bought just for that purpose. Tenten lifted the cup to her lips and took a long sip, closing her eyes in bliss at the rich flavor the simple drink provided.

"God, that's good," she moaned, already feeling the throbbing in her head begin to subside by the tiniest amount. Naruto nodded his agreement, already halfway done with his cup.

"Yeah, but Ero-sen-- I mean, Jiraiya says that you should drink a cup of water right after. I dunno if it works, though." He watched her nod slightly and take another sip, suddenly noticing something strange about the young woman. "You look good with your hair down." Tenten choked on her coffee, spraying the dark liquid all over the table.

"W-_what_?! Look, no matter what you say, there's no way in _hell_ I'm sleeping with you again!" Shocked, the blond hopped to his feet in anger.

"I was just making an observation! Is this how you treat guys who give you a simple compliment? No wonder you were still a virgin!" That was it. She slammed her hands onto the tabletop and pointed to the door, gritting her teeth in barely restrained anger.

"Leave. Now." Naruto waltzed over to the exit, leaving his half finished cup of coffee on the table.

"Gladly!" Just as he was about to open the door, he remembered that he was only wearing a pair of boxers. His rage temporarily forgotten, the teenager sheepishly turned around to address the irate brunette once again. "Uh, I need my--" Before he could finish his sentence, a ripped orange shirt and a pair of black pants hit him square in the face. "--thanks." Tenten sighed in exasperation, pinching the bridge of her nose to curb her rising headache. He was probably the most exhausting and infuriating person she'd ever met -- or meet -- in her life.

"Just hurry up and go." Muttering obscenities, Naruto slipped on the pants and (what was left of) his shirt. He opened the large wooden door, and sticking out his tongue, disappeared. Despite herself, the jounin felt the edge of her lips twitch at his immaturity. Yes, he was definitely the most exhausting person she'd ever met.

-----------------------------------

Avoiding Uzumaki Naruto proved to be the most difficult thing she'd ever had to do in her life. The blond was literally everywhere; the Hokage Tower, the training fields, the Hyuuga mansion -- fuck, she'd even run into him while shopping for underwear at Victoria's Secret! She was just about fed up with the loudmouth, and the next time she saw him, she swore to herself that he'd get a large piece of her mind. As if the Demon Lord himself was eavesdropping on her mental conversation, Naruto stepped out of the shinobi surplus store to her left, a large bag filled to the brim with what she presumed to be weapons.

"You _again_?! Are you following me or something?!" Naruto asked, glaring down at her from the shop's exit. Tenten could do nothing but stare at the younger jounin, her mouth open wide enough for a parade of elephants to step inside. Oh no the fuck he _didn't_. Though she hadn't been feeling too well for the past couple of days, she always had enough energy to put a loud, bratty little boy in his place.

"_Me_ following _you_?! _You're_ the one who's following _me_!" The blond looked equally shocked at the accusation, his eyes figuratively growing to the size of dinner plates.

"No way! Why the hell would I want to do that?!"

"Because you're a good for nothing horny bastard who's trying to get back into my pants!"

"What?! Are you sure you aren't describing yourself?!"

"Why you--" The smaller girl pounced on Naruto, knocking the already off balance boy to the ground. She gripped him roughly around the collar, almost stretching the fabric of his black t-shirt. "You're so, _so_ lucky I have training with my team in five minutes! God, if you'd caught me ten minutes earlier..." She let the threat hang ominously in the air, allowing him to come up with his own ideas for what she'd do. Hopping off of him, she stood on slightly shaky feet and began to walk off down the sidewalk.

"Yeah, that's right, run away!" Naruto yelled after her, shaking a fist in her direction. Tenten turned around long enough to flip him off before jogging towards the training grounds, leaving a very pissed off blond in her wake.

She somehow managed to reach her destination with a couple of minutes to spare. Unfortunately, the short sprint left her badly out of breath and exhausted all over. Noticing her condition, Neji lifted a curious eyebrow and opened his mouth to speak.

"Did you just wake up?" When Tenten vigorously shook her head, he stood from his seat underneath a tree and walked over to the panting girl. "How far did you run?" She held up a single finger, surprising him even more. One mile? An Academy student could run that distance full speed without so much as breaking a sweat! Concerned, he studied her heaving figure with furrowed brows. "Are you alright?" She waved off his question with a single hand, lifting her head to look him in the eyes.

"Yeah, just...just gotta get my second...wind," she panted between breaths. She inhaled deeply a few more times before forcing her body to stand upright. "Where...are Gai and Lee?" He noticed her face looked a little paler than usual, and still watching her with a critical eye, motioned for her to take a seat on one of the stumps.

"They were here a few minutes ago. Gai proposed that we all take a lap around Konoha while we waited for you to arrive, and Lee being Lee exuberantly agreed. They should be back relatively soon." She nodded slowly, relaxing her posture a bit more now that she knew she had some time. "More importantly, perhaps you should just head on home. If you are this tired after running only a mile, you will not be able to keep up with us during training."

"I'm fine, really. See? I've already recovered." She stood up to prove her point; unfortunately, she was forced to sit back down only a few seconds later. "Well, I'll have recovered by the time Gai and Lee re--"

"Yosh! Tenten has arrived, Gai-sensei! Let us go all out during our training today!" Fuck. Tenten hung her head, mumbling under her breath about 'Demon Lords' and 'Stupid blonds.' Placing her hands on her knees, she hefted herself up once again. She wobbled for a few seconds, feeling her eyes begin to zoom out of focus from the sudden action, but she was eventually able to get a hold on her footing and slowly walked over to her 'youthful' teammates.

"What's the plan for today?" she asked, placing her hands on her hips. Gai shot her one of his infamous blinding grins, twisting his body into an incredibly strange and gay-looking pose.

"Ah, your youthful motivation excites me! Today, we'll do one thousand pushups, five hundred sit ups, two thousands kicks and punches, and then we'll run twenty laps around Konoha; all while balancing a large rock on our heads!" Tears formed at the edges of Lee's eyes, and he clenched his fists powerfully in front of himself. It was almost scary how much he looked like his teacher now that he had a jounin vest of his very own.

"Oh, Gai-sensei, I cannot wait! Let us pour our sweat and tears into our training so that we may rekindle our passionate flames of youth!" The two men hugged fiercely tears pouring down their cheeks as the sobbed.

"Well said, Lee!"

"Gai-sensei!"

"Lee!"

"Gai-sensei!"

"Lee!"

"Gai-sens--"

"Enough!" Tenten screeched, stamping her foot in frustration. God, every damn time! "I meant the plan for us _normal_ humans!" The older male seemed to consider this for a second, almost as if he just now understood what she was trying to say. A pretty sad thing considering that they went through this nearly every day.

"Ah, you meant that kind of training!" Neji felt his eye twitch. "Well, I _suppose_ we can just do some light sparring for awhile. Although, don't you think it'd be more fun to--"

"No!" Neji yelled, shocking his other teammates. He closed his eyes and coughed lightly, quickly regaining his composure. "No. Sparring is fine. Tenten?" The kunoichi nodded and hurriedly stood in front of the Hyuuga, assuming a basic taijutsu stance. Only a fool would want to spar against Gai or Lee so early in the morning. She watched as he shifted into the typical Jyuuken stance, already planning what moves she would make before they even started.

Normally, one would fear fighting against a member of the fearsome Hyuuga clan. Tenten, however, did not. She knew their techniques and stances like the back of her hand, and although she could never hope to perform them, she'd come up with plenty of counters for each one. She took a deep breath to calm herself down, feeling small nervous butterflies flittering around in her stomach. They'd been there all morning, and she was hoping that the exercise would help them go away.

"Ready when you are," Neji said, activating his Byakugan. That was all the invitation she needed. Immediately, she reached into her equipment pouch and pulled out three kunai, effortlessly sliding them between the open spaces between her fingers. She threw all three of the projectile weapons at her teammate, smirking when he effortlessly evaded each one. That was exactly what she'd been counting on.

She tugged lightly on the chakra strings connected to each of the three knives, sending them flying back at the Hyuuga prodigy for a second strike. At the same time, she reached into her pouch for another three kunai and hurled two of them towards his legs. The final was sent speeding towards his forehead in a straight line. A small smile appeared on Neji's face at her actions. If he were anyone but a Hyuuga, it'd be incredibly tough to dodge her attack.

The three kunai coming from the front kept him from dodging forward, and the other other three kunai she'd thrown before were coming at her from the back and both of his sides respectively. The only way to avoid being hit was to jump, but once in the air, he'd be like a sitting duck for some of her more destructive weapons.

Of course, none of this applied to him. He quickly whirled into a perfect Kaiten, easily knocking the weapons away from himself. Unfortunately, his perfect defense had one small flaw; it was nearly impossible to stop once he was spinning at full speed. Tenten rushed her teammate at full speed, ignoring the burning pain in her lungs telling her to stop.

Just as she was about to strike at the white-eyed boy, her vision suddenly blurred and her legs simply gave out on her, sending her tumbling towards the whirling blue sphere of chakra. She connected head on with the jutsu and was sent flying ten feet into the air, coming down hard on her back. He waited a few seconds for her to get up, and when she didn't so much as flinch from her position on the ground, he hastily cancelled the jutsu.

"Tenten!" Neji yelled, white eyes wide as he stared over at her. He, along with an equally concerned Lee and Gai, rushed over to the eerily still girl. He slid to a stop in front of her, immediately kneeling down by her side. "Tenten! Wake up!" Lee's bushy eyebrows knitted together with worry, and he too began to yell for her to wake.

"Tenten! Gather your youthful energy and return to us!" He shook her arm in attempt to rouse her, his frown deepening when the action had no effect. "Neji, how could you! You've extinguished her burning passion well before its time!"

"Lee?" Neji asked, shifting his eyes away from Tenten for a second.

"Yes, my nefariously youthful rival?"

"Shut up." He turned his attention back to the unconscious kunoichi lying on the lush green grass of their training grounds. He felt a bit guilty for allowing her to train; especially after witnessing how much trouble she'd had simply _walking_. To his relief, Tenten's eyes slowly slid open, squinting lightly to block out the sunlight hitting her square in the face. She quickly pushed herself up into a sitting position, holding her head lightly in her hands.

"Nngh...what happened?" Before either of them could open their mouths to speak, she slammed her hands over her own mouth in an attempt to stem the torrent of vomit threatening to spew out of the orifice. Needless to say, the effort was futile. She managed to turn her head just in time to avoid barfing all over herself, erupting all over the grass at her side. She struggled to breath as wave after wave of vomit came up from her stomach in a never ending flow, sending all three of her teammates into hysterics.

"Tenten! What's wrong! Is it heat exhaustion? Yes, that must be it! Or maybe, you ate something bad! It could also be that --" Gai's tirade was interrupted by another loud gag from his student's mouth as she pumped more and more puke onto the ground, greatly enlarging the puddle of stomach fluid already there. Neji awkwardly rubbed her back, feeling extremely useless as she emptied her guts all over the training field.

Finally, after literally two minutes of nonstop retching, she kneeled limply over the pile of vomit that she'd created. Her breaths were deep as she struggled to regain some much needed air, and her stomach continuously spasmed from the massive amounts of regurgitation it'd endured.

Sensing that she was done (at least for now), Neji hurriedly helped her onto her feet, tossing one of her arms over her shoulder.

"I'm taking you to the hospital; _now_." Tenten slowly shook her head, removing her arm from around his shoulders and taking a few shaky steps back to the other side of the field.

"No, I'm okay now, really. I feel much better. Let's keep going!" The way her voice wavered greatly contradicted her statement, and even Gai put on a frown at her obvious bluff.

"Tenten, you're going to the hospital right now; even if we have to take you by force," the man threatened in an uncharacteristic show of seriousness. She hung her head in defeat, sighing deeply as she realized that there was no way out. Unfortunately, her pride refused to go down without a fight.

"Fine, but you have to leave immediately after we get there. I don't want to be the one cutting into everyone else's training time." All three of her teammates frowned at the condition, but nodded their heads regardless. With that, Gai hefted the girl up onto his back and sped off towards Konoha General Hospital, the remaining two males close behind.

--------------------------

Nervousness didn't begin to describe what she was feeling at that moment. Sitting all alone in the personal office of the Hokage's first apprentice, Shizune, proved to be one of the most nervewracking experiences in her life. Deciding to take her mind off of the situation, she moved her eyes over the many pictures and wall scrolls hanging in the small room.

Most of the pictures on the wall were paintings, ranging from a copy of the Mona Lisa to a simple cliche bowl of fruit. Looking a bit closer, she noticed that there was a similar signature in each one. Her eyes widened when she realized that the name was Sai. Now that she thought about it, it did make some sense; the supposedly emotionless boy had been hanging around the older woman a lot lately, and Tenten was starting to understand why.

She turned her attention to the photographs on the desk, desperately wanting to get off of that train of thought. The first picture was of a young Shizune, Tsunade, and Tonton at some strange casino. The Hokage was frowning deeply at a nervous looking Shizune for some reason, and the jounin found herself wondering what exactly was going on when the picture was taken.

The second picture was of her and Kakashi. His hand was resting playfully on top of her head as he smiled that familiar one-eyed smile at the camera, while an extremely red-faced Shizune smiled along with him. Tenten's eyebrows arched in surprise. Either Kakashi had said something embarrassing right before the picture was taken, or the medic-nin had a thing for the older shinobi.

The third and final picture was one she'd seen many times on the Godaime's desk. It included a pervertedly grinning Jiraiya, smiling Tsunade and Shizune, Tonton, and of course, a widely smiling Naruto. She frowned deeply at the picture of the blond, sticking her tongue out at him for good measure. It was really starting to become annoying seeing him everywhere.

"Tenten-san, are you read--uh...what are you doing?" Shizune asked, eyebrows raised in surprise. The jounin jumped and turned to the medic-nin with wide eyes. She hadn't even sensed her!

"Oh! I was, uh, well, there was broccoli stuck in my teeth from lunch, and uh, I was trying to see my reflection in the picture frame?" Tenten fidgeted under Shizune's disbelieving gaze, diverting her eyes to her lap in embarrassment. The older woman smirked and pulled her chair from behind her desk, moving it so that it was directly in front of the younger kunoichi.

"Well, I suppose you have your reasons." She grabbed a small folder off of the desk and pulled out what looked to be some kind of medical form, scribbling a few things onto the piece of paper. "From what your teammates have told me, you aren't feeling too well. Correct?" Glad to have a change of subject, Tenten slightly nodded her head.

"Yes, but it's nothing serious; probably just a cold or something. There's really no need to be here." Shizune shook her head, looking up from the piece of paper long enough to look the girl in the eye.

"Colds don't cause excessive vomiting." Tenten winced at the statement. She was hoping her teammates wouldn't tell her about that. "Now, in order for me to figure out what's wrong with you, I'm going to need to ask you a series of questions. Please answer truthfully, okay?" The girl nodded and took a deep breath. She wasn't very fond of doctors to be honest, and only went when it was absolutely necessary. As in, when she was forced by either her teammates or another friend.

"Okay, I'm ready."

"How long have you been feeling ill?"

"I guess around three or four days."

"Have you experienced symptoms like this before?"

"Once, when I had a fever during my last year at the Academy."

"What was done about it last time?"

"I just took a few days off." Shizune nodded and quickly wrote the answers down.

"What are your symptoms?" Tenten tilted her head slightly in thought.

"Well, other than vomiting, fatigue, soreness, and a little bit of dizziness. I'm sure it'll go away soon, though."

"Does it come or go or is it constant?"

"The dizziness and vomiting comes and goes, but the other stuff I feel all the time."

"Does it affect your feelings, home life, or work life? If so, how much?"

"Sort of; I never feel like doing anything, so it affects it a lot."

"What parts of the body does the soreness effect?"

"All over; but mostly in my chest." The medic-nin glanced up for a second, giving the younger kunoichi a funny look.

"Really? That's interesting. Do you take any medications, supplements, or herbal remedies?"

"No, but I took an aspirin last night to get rid of my headache."

"Have you ever, or do you currently smoke? How often and how much alcohol do you drink? Do you or have you ever taken any recreational drugs?" Tenten blinked at the questions. Was she trying to imply something? Noticing her skeptical expression, Shizune quickly leaned forward and gave the girl a comforting pat on the shoulder. "These are all formalities. We have to ask these questions to everyone."

"Oh. Well, I've never smoked, but I drink a little alcohol every now and then. I usually don't drink more than a bottle, though I've had five or six on one occasion. And, no, I don't use drugs."

"Have you had any pregnancies?"

"What?! No!" Shizune smirked at her horror-stricken face. It was always amusing seeing the reactions of the patients she interviewed.

"I didn't think so. We're almost done, just a few more to go. Are you sexually active? Do you have more than one sexual partner?" If she thought Tenten's face was funny before, her current expression was hilarious. "This is completely confidential, by the way. Only myself and the Hokage will see these files." That relieved her a bit, and she swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat.

"Well...uh...I'm not sexually active, but I did have sex once almost two months ago. And I've only had one partner."

"Are any of your sexual partners of the same sex? Did you use any method of protection?"

"No, it was a guy, and..." her face suddenly turned a deathly pale as she realized something horrible. It couldn't be that... "And...no, we didn't use protection." It took every ounce of Shizune's willpower and medical training not to stare at the kunoichi in shock.

"I...I see. Well, then, those are all the questions I have for you. I think I've figured out what's wrong with you, but I'd like to run a few tests just to be sure. Please follow me." The medic-nin stiffly stood up and walked out of the room, followed by an equally stiff Tenten. Luckily, the hallway was virtually empty except for a couple of chattering nurses, and the trip to the machinery lab was relatively uneventful. At least, on the outside.

On the inside, the jounin was an emotional wreck. Her mind was flooded with all kinds of possibilities, and she fought to keep her composure as they made the short trek down the hallway. She clenched and unclenched her fingers, and a small sweat began to break out on her forehead. It couldn't be.

"Here we are!" Shizune called, holding the door open for the girl. Tenten quickly entered the room and took a look around. It was much larger than the office she'd been in previously, and all kinds of different machines littered the white-walled room. The medic-nin led her over to a relatively secluded corner, and pulling the curtain, turned to the jounin with a small smile. "Please go into the door on your left and empty your bladder, if you can."

Still too shocked to argue, she opened the door and entered the small bathroom. It didn't take long for her to relieve herself, as all the nervousness was really starting to catch up to her. She exited the room and nodded to the older woman.

"I'm finished."

"Good; please remove your pants and underwear and lie down on the examining table." Tenten stiffly nodded again, doing as she asked in a slow and careful manner. Her entire body felt numb with fear, and an odd sinking feeling began to settle in her stomach.

"What is this?" she asked, trying to make conversation. It often helped to relieve nervousness as she'd found out during one of her many A-ranked missions. Shizune smiled gently and began to prepare something the younger girl couldn't see.

"This is what's called a transvaginal ultrasound. It sends out high-frequency sound waves that allow us to see everything inside of you. Now, this won't hurt, but you may feel some mild discomfort throughout this test. It'll take around half an hour, so in the meantime, would you like a magazine?" Tenten slowly shook her head, feeling her heart rate begin to speed up with each passing second. There was no way she'd be able to concentrate on anything in her current state.

"N-no, I'm fine."

"Alright then. I'll be starting now." Shizune gently inserted the mechanical probe into Tenten, wincing at the obviously pained expression on the girl's face. "Don't worry, it'll be over before you know it." After making sure it was all the way in, she turned to the machine and began to press and turn the buttons littering the bulky console. The device whirred to live, startling the younger jounin once again.

"Is...it on?" Shizune smiled down at her and nodded before turning back to the machine.

"Yes. Just relax as best you can, though I know it's probably not what you want to hear at the moment." Tenten stared up at the ceiling in deep thought, doing her best to calm down. She was probably just overreacting. Yes, that had to be it. There was no possible way that...a brief shudder went through her at the thought. Maybe it'd be best if she got her mind off of that particular train of thought.

"So," she started, swallowing noisily over the beeping and whirring of the machine, "I haven't seen Sakura around here today. Is she off?" The black-haired woman turned away from the machine, considering the girl's question.

"Well, yes and no. She's working today, but Hokage-sama allowed her to take an extra long lunch break so that she could spend some time with Sasuke." Shizune's face noticeably fell at the mention of the raven-haired teenager. "I feel bad for Naruto-kun, but I can't really blame Sakura-san for turning him down. You love who you love, right?" Tenten turned her gaze back to the simple white ceiling.

"I wouldn't know." Shizune raised her eyebrows slightly, curious as to the bitter expression marring the young jounin's face.

"Is something bothering you? You can talk to me about it, if you'd like. As I said before, everything that happens in this building will remain strictly confidential. If it's a personal problem, I can keep it just between us." A loud sigh erupted from Tenten's mouth at the proposition. Shizune seemed to be a relatively trustworthy person, and she'd probably dealt with all kinds of people over the years. What did she have to lose? Taking a deep breath, she turned her head to look at the older woman.

"I'm scared." A small smile appeared on the medic-nin's face, and she reached over to lightly grip Tenten's calloused hand.

"Don't be. Remember, this is just a formality. Nothing has been decided yet." The jounin nodded her head, turning to stare back up the ceiling.

"How much longer?"

"Around five minutes. You're doing great." By now, Tenten's heart was thumping powerfully against her ribcage, and she briefly wondered if she'd have a heart attack before she even received the news. The jounin exams had nothing on her current predicament; and that was saying something.

Her fingers idly tapped against the paper-covered surface of the table, mentally counting down the seconds until she was done. Just when she thought that she couldn't take it anymore, Shizune turned around and removed the small probe from her vagina.

"All done! It'll only take a few more seconds to print out the sonogram, so you can put your pants back on in the meantime." Feeling oddly cold, she quickly snatched her clothing from the small basket next to the bed and pulled them on. Unfortunately, it did little to warm her up. She fidgeted nervously from her spot next to the table, biting her lip and cracking her knuckles to calm herself down. Didn't she say it'd only take a few seconds?! The sound of the printer cranking up interrupted her thoughts, and she eagerly watched as the doctor grabbed a letter-sized piece of black paper from the machine.

"What does it say?!" she practically yelled, eyes studying the medic-nin's face for any sign of a hint. Shizune slowly looked up from the page, meeting Tenten's fearful eyes.

"You're pregnant."

**AN: As if you hadn't figured it out by around halfway through! **


	3. Chapter 3

**Illegitimate Love **

**Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto.**

**Chapter 3**

"I'm..." Tenten stared in absolute disbelief at Shizune, eyes wide and body limp from the sudden information. The medic-nin slowly nodded her head, and shortly after, the jounin collapsed onto the floor.

"Tenten-san!" she yelled, kneeling down next to her. "Tenten-san, get a hold of yourself!" She quickly stretched the woman out until she was lying completely horizontal, biting her lip in mild worry. She then checked Tenten's pulse, and feeling the strong throbbing against her fingertips, she deduced that the jounin had fainted. "Not that I can blame her," she muttered to herself.

Shizune turned the younger kunoichi's head to the side and placed her folded jacket underneath her legs to elevate them, marginally increasing blood flow to the brain. She formed a few seals and pumped a small amount of chakra into her left hand, placing it gently on Tenten's forehead. Two seconds later, her eyes fluttered open to stare up at the medic-nin.

She blinked a few times in surprise and tried to sit up, but a strong hand against her chest held her down.

"You shouldn't get up right away; you'll only faint again." Tenten sighed and nodded as best she could from her position.

"I don't suppose me being pregnant was a dream, then?" When Shizune shook her head, she sighed again and turned to look up at the ceiling. "I didn't think so."

"Although I know that this is probably the last thing you want to think about, we should really discuss what you're going to do next." The jounin shifted her eyes to look at the older woman.

"What I'm going to do next?"

"Yes. You need to decide whether or not you're going to have the baby, or if you're going to abort it." Tenten noticeably stiffened at the proposition. Abort the baby? While it was true that she definitely didn't want to have any kids at this point in time, the fact of the matter was that the human growing inside of her belly was hers. Hers, and... "Do you know who the father is?"

Her face scrunched up in what looked like pain, immediately alarming the already worried medic-nin. It was part of her job to offer counseling and support for her patients, but she'd never been good at offering advice when it came to relationships.

"Yes, I know who he is." Shizune let loose a small breath of relief. At least Tenten wouldn't have to go through this situation alone.

"That's good! You should talk to him, and you two can make a decision together as to what to do with the baby together. Even better, you can bring him here when you come for your next checkup!" A sickeningly evil grin appeared on the jounin's face, putting the Hokage's apprentice on edge. She'd seen that look before; more often than not on her mentor.

"No, that won't be necessary."

"Excuse me?" Shizune asked, blinking a little in surprise.

"He won't be alive long enough say anything." The eerie calm with which she spoke caused a brief shudder to go through the black-haired medic nin, and she mentally began to pray for the poor soul who'd knocked her up. If he was lucky, he'd escape with his baby-making equipment intact. Tenten slowly got to her feet and began to leave the room, catching Shizune off guard.

"Tenten-san! Please wait! We still need to talk about what you're going to do!" The jounin stopped in the doorway, shooting an angry glare over her shoulder.

"We can talk later. If you'll excuse me, I have a certain blond's head to bash in." With that, she disappeared from the room, leaving a confused Shizune in her wake.

"...Blond?"

-------------------------

"Where the hell _is_ he?!" Tenten hissed, stalking down the sidewalk of the Market District for the second time that day. With her fingers clenched and face fixed into a frown, civilians and shinobi alike made sure to stay out of the jounin's way. One didn't piss off Konoha's weapons mistress without losing a finger or ten.

She'd checked all of his usual haunts at least twice since she'd left the hospital; Ichiraku Ramen, the Shinobi Surplus store, the Hokage Tower, his apartment, Sakura's apartment, the Uchiha district, and even Team 7's old training grounds. Oddly enough, Naruto was nowhere to be found; something she found quite ironic considering she hadn't been able to avoid him for the past month and a half.

Feeling a bit woozy from all of the exercise, she quickly looked for a place to cool down and get out of the hot summer sun. Konoha was famous for its extreme heat waves, with temperatures comparing to those of Suna in the summertime -- a fact that positively astounded her.

Her eyes scanned the area around her, a weary hand shielding her orbs from the blinding sunlight. She smiled as she spotted the Konoha Central Park in the distance, and remembering the especially large trees they had inside, she quickened her pace until she was safely inside of the huge enclosure. Once inside, Tenten wasted no time in finding the closest bench and plopping down onto it; screw being prim and ladylike.

After seating herself, she once again set about thinking of places the idiot blond could be. Was he on a mission? Visiting friends in another village? _Dead_? She was beginning to get a headache from thinking so hard, and the loud, boisterous laughter of some asshole nearby wasn't helping any.

The jounin blinked in surprise when she realized that the man's laughter sounded oddly familiar. Almost like...

Tenten jumped to her feet and practically ran towards the voice, ignoring the queasy feeling in the bottom of her stomach from getting up so fast. As she pushed her way through a particularly thick bush, her eyes landed on the park's large and colorful jungle gym. Nearly a dozen kids were playing around and in the contraption, and spotting a particularly bright tuft of blond hair, she felt a positively evil smirk spread across her face.

"Found you," she seethed, her smirk growing into a deadly smile. Just_watching_Naruto play with the children so carelessly made her angry. While she was pregnant, tired, and stressed out, he was off entertaining a bunch of four and five year olds. The way he could so easily make friends with anyone was another thing that pissed her the fuck off.

Balling her fists at her sides, she fully intended to give him a piece of her mind, already anticipating how much pain she would put him through. Much to her chagrin, however, she found that she couldn't move. As much as she wanted to cut his heart out with a spoon, and as much as she wanted to rip off his penis and use it to rape him up the ass, she couldn't.

Whether he intended to or not, the bastard had warmed her heart. Watching him run around and laugh like a child touched something inside of her; it made her feel as though things would be alright, and that together, they could get through this. In fact, now that she thought about it, Naruto had always been the supportive and caring type. What the hell was she was worried about? Her smile widening a bit, she lifted a hand to her mouth.

"Naruto!" she called, using her other hand to wave him over. Both the blond and the kids turned around to look at her with curious expressions, but Naruto's face immediately turned into a frown. Sticking his tongue out, he used his middle finger to pull on his lower eyelid, causing all of the children around him to laugh.

Tenten's face noticeably fell at his reaction, slightly alarming the young man. He was expecting her to storm over to yell at him some more, not actually be insulted by the childish action. After staring for a few more seconds, he slowly bent down until he was eye level with all of the children.

"Hey, I'm gonna go talk to the mean ol' lady for a little bit. You guys stay here." A loud chorus of 'awwws' reached his hears, bringing a wide grin to his face. It was times like these that he wished he had a child of his own. Standing once more, Naruto waltzed over to his fellow jounin with an agitated glare, shoving his hands deep into his pockets as he approached. "What do _you_want?" he sneered, narrowing his eyes for added effect. Rather than go off on him like she'd initially planned, Tenten suddenly found herself frightened of what his reaction would be. Would he be happy? Sad? Angry? Would he yell at her? She nervously bit her lip, less sure of herself by the second. It didn't help that two dozens pairs of eyes were staring at her.

"Can we...go somewhere else to talk?" she practically whispered, eyes dropping to the ground. Naruto blinked. What the hell kind of reaction was _that_ to his taunt?! Now he knew something was wrong, and somehow, it involved himself. The very beginnings of fear slowly began to seep into his heart, and nodding dumbly, he followed her to a fairly secluded park bench located a few dozen yards away from the jungle gym. No sooner had they sat down did the blond start shooting questions at her, his brows furrowing in concern.

"What's wrong? Is it something I did? Is there something I can do to help?" Tenten almost laughed at the irony. Almost. She lowered her head and stared down at her feet, idly wiggling her toes as she attempted to piece together what she wanted to say. Her perfectly planned speech had been completely forgotten, and she found it hard to even come up with a single word to say to him. After spending a few seconds collecting her thoughts, she raised her eyes to meet the Jinchuuriki's, morbidly pleased to see that he was just as afraid as she was.

"Naruto, I...we..." Annoyingly, her words caught in her throat. Looking into his bright blue eyes had somehow sapped what little confidence she'd had. Refusing to give up, she averted her gaze and took a deep breath, letting it out slowly through clenched teeth. "I'm...pregnant." The silence was deafening. She was far too afraid to see his reaction; if he even had one. As quiet as it was, it was possible that he'd had a heart attack and died right after she'd relayed the news. Finally, after a few minutes of uninterrupted silence, Naruto asked the one question she never thought she'd hear in her life;

"Are you saying it's mine?"

Every nerve in her body was demanding that she strangle him with his own spinal cord right there on the spot. How _dare_ he ask her such a loaded and frivolous question! Men were only supposed to ask that question on television and in movies, not in real life! It amazed her that he even had the guts! She figured that her expression must've been awfully frightening, as Naruto was quick to add on to his original inquiry.

"I mean, we only did it once, and that was an accident! There's no_ way_ you got pregnant after that one time!" For a moment, she didn't know whether to kill him or pity him. Obviously, _someone_ had failed SexEd at the Academy. Tenten sighed tiredly and rubbed a hand over her eyes, fighting to keep her more violent emotions in check.

"It only takes once, Naruto. Just once."

"But...we..."

"Just. Once."

"It...it wasn't supposed to happen like this! Not with _you_!" A grim smile appearing on her face, the weapons mistress was quick to reply.

"You weren't exactly my first choice either."

The blond stared down at his hands, a look of absolute disbelief plastered on his normally grinning face. It almost pained her to see him so distressed, but in a way, she was happy to see him panicking over the information. It meant that he was beginning to accept the fact that the baby growing inside of her was his too, and feeling relieved that she wasn't in this alone anymore, she took another deep breath and raised her head to look at him.

"So, what are we going to--" At that moment, Naruto hopped to his feet, his eyes looking everywhere but at her.

"I-I'm sorry. I have to go." He quickly began to walk away from her, heading down the path that led to the Residential District. Surprised, Tenten quickly began to follow.

"Wait! We still have to talk about what we're going to..." her voice trailed off as she watched the familiar movement of his arms performing handseals, and a moment later, he disappeared in a golden flash. Tears began to prickle at the back of her eyeballs as for the first time since she'd arrived at the hospital, she felt alone. Her knees suddenly felt weak, and she slowly lowered herself until she was sitting flat on her butt, her legs splayed out awkwardly in front of her.

Out of all the scenarios she'd come up with in her mind, this one hadn't even occurred to her. Never in a million years would she have thought Naruto would abandon her when she needed him most. This was the same boy who fought Orochimaru twice when he was only a genin. This was the same boy who defeated and transformed a former psychopath into the Kazekage of the Sand village. This was the same boy who killed Orochimaru and dragged a critically injured Sasuke back to the village.

It wasn't possible. Not with Naruto.

A choked sob escaped her throat, but she quickly fought down the urge to cry. She was stronger than this. If he didn't want to help her make a decision, then fine; she'd do it by herself. It wasn't like her to rely on the help of someone else, anyway. She'd been on her own ever since she'd entered the Academy, and had handled dozens of trials and tribulations alone for as long as she could remember. She could get through this; this was nothing. She didn't need him. She didn't need _anyone._

With that thought in mind, she slowly pushed herself onto her feet, forcing her cowardly knees to support her weight. After making sure that she could walk without risk of falling, she steadily headed towards the exit leading to the Residential District. The first thing she need to do was take a nap; she was exhausted from the emotional roller coaster she'd been on since morning. She could make her decision when she woke up.

-----------------------------

"...So, you ran. Nice." Uchiha Sasuke sipped at his cup of tea with a detached sense of concern, eyes closing in obvious annoyance as he drank. He'd been more than a little peeved when his best friend and second worst enemy Uzumaki Naruto had shown up on his doorstep at two-thirty in the morning; then again, anyone would be. Sighing deeply, he pulled his dark blue robe closer around himself, looking back up at the distressed blond with a tired frown. "Well? What are you going to do?"

"I don't know! That's why I came to you!" The raven-haired chuunin lifted a curious eyebrow, obviously put off by the statement.

"You act like I've gotten a girl pregnant after a night of wild, drunken sex before. How would I know?" Naruto winced at his friend's words. If there was one thing he could say about his rival, it was that he never minced his words. The young man ran a tired hand through his unruly locks, letting loose an exasperated breath of air.

"You have to be able to help me out somehow. What would you do in my situation?"

"Naruto. You know full well that I'm not going to answer that question." Slamming his fist onto the table (and putting a sizable crack into it as he did so), he leaned over the thick wooden piece of furniture to glare straight into the Uchiha's eyes.

"Goddamnit, this is all your fault! If you hadn't stolen Sakura-chan from me in the first place, I never would've met Tenten, gotten drunk, and made her pregnant! This is your fault, so you have to help me!" Sasuke stared boredly into Naruto's eyes for a few more seconds before lowering them to stare at the crack the jounin had made in the table.

"That was an antique. I expect compensation." Fed up, Naruto grabbed the table and flipped it over, screaming all the while. Porcelain dishes flew everywhere as he went on a rampage, kicking, stomping, and throwing whatever he could get his hands on. After nearly five minutes of nonstop yelling and fury, he finally calmed down enough to catch his breath. "Are you done?" the chuunin asked, resting his teacup and saucer in his lap after taking another sip. The room was literally a disaster area, with paper, books, broken dishes, and splinters of wood strewn about. Naruto growled lowly at his best friend, shooting him as evil of a glare as he could manage.

"Sasuke..." he snarled, still panting from his earlier exertion, "I'm not playing around. I need your help."

"Do you? I seem to remember a certain annoying idiot who always used to say 'I won't run away. I never go back on my word, because that's my nindo. My ninja way.'" Naruto frowned deeply, more than a little peeved that he'd quoted his personal nindo word for word.

"This is different! This has nothing to do with being a ninja!"

"It doesn't? Aren't you a shinobi? Isn't she?" The blond's face noticeably fell as he struggled to come up with a suitable comeback.

"Yeah, but..."

"There are no buts. You know what you have to do." Naruto stared down at his feet, hair shielding his eyes from view. Sure, he had a pretty good idea of what to do, but he still wasn't sure. It was easy to make a decision, but...

"What if I make the wrong decision? Then what?"

"That's never stopped you before. Just handle it how you handle everything else and it'll work out." The jinchuuriki smiled for the first time that morning, a resolute look in his cerulean blue eyes. Now that he thought about it, it made a whole of sense. He'd made the baby, so it's only natural that he take care of it. Right?

"Thanks, Sasuke." His friend grunted a reply, taking another gulp from his half finished tea cup.

"Don't thank me until you see how much I'm going to charge you for wrecking my dining room. Anticipate a letter within two weeks detailing how much you owe me." Glancing around, Naruto grinned sheepishly at the mess he'd made of Sasuke's home. You could barely see the floor because of all the broken glass and wood covering the ground, and without seeing how the room looked before, it was nearly impossible to tell that it was a dining room in the first place.

"I guess this means I don't have have a chance with Sakura-chan anymore, huh?" he mumbled, reaching for any sliver of humor he could find. The chuunin grunted and stood up, placing his teacup on the nearby counter.

"You never had a chance in the first place." Naruto scrunched his face up in disdain.

"Bastard."

"Dumbass."

"Emobitch."

"Ramen slut."

"Snakefucker."

"Furfag." At the last insult, the blond's mouth hung open. It was unfair to use the appearance of his four tails state against him!

"Hey! That was below the belt!" The first hint of a smile appeared on Sasuke's face, and he quickly turned around to hide his grin.

"You started it."

--------------------

_Thunk. Thunk. Thunk._

The steady sound of kunai hitting her practice dummy filled the apartment. Her face the picture of apathy, Tenten effortlessly threw her entire kunai collection towards the the poor wooden mannequin, aiming more towards the head than anywhere else. She'd somehow managed to get a hold of a large enough picture of Naruto's grinning face, thankful for the life-sized poster she'd received from him on her last birthday.

Dark rings permeated the area below her brown eyes, and though she couldn't see it, she knew her hair was a mess. Despite her confident thoughts the day before, she hadn't been able to sleep a wink. She'd been up all night worrying about what she should do with the baby. Although she'd rather not have an abortion, it seemed to be the only viable option at the current point in time.

It was nearly impossible for a single shinobi mother to raise a child on her own; she needed to go on missions to make money, and she was barely able to support herself. Granted, she'd only been taking B-ranked missions lately, but that was besides the point. She couldn't even imagine leaving her child alone or in the hands of strangers so often, and if she was going to be a mother, she wanted to do it right.

She flicked another kunai at the dummy's head, frowning when it_ just_ missed Naruto's eyeball. Her eyes were beginning to grow bleary from lack of sleep, making it increasingly difficult for her to aim properly. Normally, staying up for twenty four hours straight wasn't so bad. She'd done it plenty of times on stakeout and recon missions, holding her position until someone else arrived to take over for her. However, after the stressful day she'd had, twenty four hours seemed like hell. The worst part of this whole ordeal was that she couldn't drink, and god could she use a shot of Everclear right about now.

A quiet knock at her front door quickly threw her into a full state of consciousness, and with a small grunt, she pushed herself onto her feet to answer the door. A fleeting glance at her bedside clock showed the time to be five in the morning; an ungodly hour no matter who you were. Except for Gai and Lee, anyway.

Tenten slowly trudged towards the door, wincing at the popping sounds emanating from her joints. It was only natural considering the fact that she hadn't moved from her position in over five hours. Yawning widely, she reached her hand out towards the door to unlatch the lock before gripping the doorknob and opening the large slab of wood.

"What?" she asked, eyes red and slitted from lack of sleep. They quickly widened to the size of silver dollars as she realized who the person staring up at her sheepishly was. "YOU!" As if by magic, an oversized kunai appeared in her left hand, immediately sending her guest into a panic. It was bad enough that she'd look like a zombie when she answered the door; now, she looked like a zombie with _a big ass kunai in her hand._

"Wait! Just listen! Give me five minutes!" Naruto yelled, raising his hands in a placating manner. He was currently kneeling down in front of her on his knees, assuming what he hoped to be an apologetic stance. Tenten stared down at him with a positively evil expression, feeling her blood begin to boil at the gall of her fellow jounin.

After knocking her up, accusing her of sleeping around, and running away when she needed his help, did he really think he could get away without experiencing some form of excruciating pain? That she'd instantly forgive him for abandoning her not even twelve hours before? Yeah, not fuckin' likely. She lifted the blade higher above her head, fully intending to slice off a finger or ten. She wasn't too worried about killing him; the Kyuubi healed everything within a reasonable timeframe, and if he could survive a chidori to the chest, then he could survive having a few appendages chopped off at the joint. Her eye twitched when the blond placed his forehead against the ground, fully showing his submission to her.

"Please! Five minutes, that's all I need! Just five minutes!" Annoyingly, she felt her grip on the handle of the kunai lessen. She hated that he could do that to her; make her feel guilty for wanted to cause him pain, even if he fully deserved it. Tenten ground her teeth against each other, debating in her mind what to do.

"Five seconds," she growled, bringing the weapon down to her side. Naruto's head snapped up in relief, and wasting no time, he jumped to his feet.

"I'm really, really sorry! When you said you were pregnant I panicked and ran because I didn't know what to do and I went to talk to Sasuke and he helped me and stuff but I still wasn't sure so I went to the top of the Hokage Mountain to think some more and I finally realized that leaving you behind was wrong and that I should've stayed with you until we'd decided what to do but I'm here now and I hope you can forgive me and I'm definitely here for you and the baby so no matter what you want to do I'll always support you just ask and I'll do anything so ple--"

"Five seconds are up," Tenten said, cutting him off before he could finish. Amazingly enough, she could actually follow what he was saying; a sure sign that she needed to get to sleep, and fast. She stared into his deep blue eyes with the deepest disdain, angry that she no longer felt the overwhelming urge to stab him multiple times in the ballsack. The kunai in her hand dropped to the ground, clanging loudly against her hardwood floor.

"So...does that mean you forgive me?" He asked, eyes wide and hopeful. The woman idly wondered how a seventeen year old jounin could make himself look like a five year old Academy Student without even trying. Still, he wasn't going to get off that easily.

"No. However, I'm willing to let you keep your word. You'll do whatever I say whenever I say it. Got it?" Naruto's face noticeably paled at the proposal. He'd seen enough daytime television to know how this would turn out.

"Well..but..."

"Didn't you say you'd do anything?"

"Yeah, but--"

"Isn't your nindo to never go back on your word?" The blond cursed under his breath. That was the second time someone had used his own words against him within the last twenty four hours. Deciding he needed an extra push, Tenten added in another condition to help him decide. "Or maybe you'd rather I relieve my frustration by making you sterile?"

"Fine, I've got it! I'll do whatever you say!" The woman fought to keep a smirk from spreading across her face. Sure, she was still pregnant, but she'd always wanted a personal slave; and what better person to enslave than Naruto? He could travel from one side of the village to the other in under a minute -- a useful skill, if she didn't say so herself.

"Good. Come in, it's time to start keeping your word." His face turning a shade paler, the blond followed her into the apartment, already dreading what she would have him do first. "For today, I'll have you do some light chores; wash the dishes, clean the bathrooms, take out the trash, and sweep the floors." Naruto's mouth opened in shock. She could considered all _that_ light?! As if suddenly remembering something, the jounin stopped in the middle of the hallway. "Oh, by the way, you can forget ever having sex again."

"...NANI?!"

**AN: Don't EVER drink Everclear. Trust me, you'll regret it.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Illegitimate Love**

**Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto.**

**Chapter 4**

Biting her fingernails, Tenten slowly trudged down the street of the residential district. She wasn't looking forward to this. Not at all. She felt sicker and sicker with each shaky step, but she fought to keep moving forward. It had to be done; she'd put it off long enough.

"Tenten! Oi, Tenten, hold up!" an annoyingly familiar voice called from behind her. With a loud groan, the girl turned around to greet the blond running full speed in her direction. "You forgot your lunch!" Her eyebrows raised in slight surprise as she noticed the carefully wrapped bento box hanging from his outstretched hand.

Despite all of his grumbling and complaining, Naruto had proven to be an extremely reliable and compassionate person. After her initial command that he become her bitch, he'd literally (but grudgingly) done everything she had asked of him over the past three weeks.

Whether it was ironing her clothes, drawing her bath, or making her a peanut butter and pickle sandwich at two in the fucking morning, he did it with relatively little fuss. At least compared to the first couple of days; she'd only had to remind him once why she was dubbed 'The Weapons Mistress of Konoha.'

"Oh...thanks," she mumbled, grabbing the kerchief-wrapped box from his hand. While she was oddly touched by the gesture, it also unnerved her a bit. He was acting a little _too_ much like a mother. Or, at least, what she thought a mother would be like. "How did you manage to make me a lunch _and_ catch up to me in under ten minutes, anyway? You were drooling all over yourself when I left."

Sheepishly scratching the back of his head, the boxer clad jounin shrugged his shoulders.

"Well, after all the peanut butter and pickle sandwiches I've made you lately, my hands were pretty much working on muscle memory. In a way, it's kind of like learning a new jutsu." Shortly after saying that, he suddenly flashed through a bunch of seals, most of which she'd never seen before. She tilted her head curiously as she watched his face, noting the determined frown growing deeper and deeper with each passing second. "Peanut Butter and Pickle Sandwich no Jutsu!" he shouted, hands stopping on the tiger seal. Tenten waited with wide eyes for something to happen, her mouth opening slightly in anticipation.

Had he really come up with a technique that could make an instant sandwich? Was that even _possible?! _At that moment, her common sense punched her in the uterus, and her face dropped into a deadpan expression. Leaning forward, she smacked him on the side of the head with what she hoped was an angry pout.

"You're an idiot," she muttered, unable to keep a smile from flickering onto her face. Naruto shrugged again, a grin of his own appearing in place of his frown.

"It made you smile, didn't it?" Lifting a hand to her lips, she realized that she was, indeed, smiling; rather widely at that. She opened her mouth to say something else, but noticed with a small amount of surprise that he was already halfway down the sidewalk, his hands tucked neatly behind his head. It was then that she noticed he wasn't wearing pants. Or shoes. Or anything other than a pair of orange and black boxer shorts. How the _fuck _had she missed that?

Shaking her head in exasperation, she once again turned to continue her journey, in considerably higher spirits than she had been only ten minutes before. What she was about to do would be one of the toughest things she'd ever had to go through in her life, but suddenly, she felt as though everything would be alright. Naruto would still be there; at least, he said he would.

Even if they weren't in love (or necessarily friends for that matter), she had to admit that he was a pretty alright guy once given half a chance. It was almost hard to believe that they'd been at each other's throats less than a month before. He was a lot more considerate than most people gave him credit for, and although he was annoying when he was around, she found that she somewhat missed his cheerful exuberance when he wasn't -- only because she didn't have any friends to talk to about her situation.

At least, none who would take the news as..._gracefully_ as Naruto had. Staring up at the tall gates of the Hyuuga mansion, only one thought permeated throughout her mind:

"I'm so fucking screwed."

------------

If she thought being outside of the mansion was nerve-wracking, being inside was a thousand times worse. The cold, unforgiving white walls of the building all seemed to be...mocking her somehow. Don't ask how, they just were. Fuck you if you don't understand -- you had to be there.

"Is everything alright, Tenten-san?" a voice asked from in front of her, startling her out of her thoughts. She was immensely grateful that she'd had the foresight to not bring any unsealed weapons with her, as it was very likely that she would have impaled the Hyuuga guard by accident for surprising her. Multiple times. With the sharpest and longest blades available in the Fire Country.

The young woman shook her head, giving the white-eyed man a shaky smile.

"I'm fine. Still a little tired, I guess." The man nodded his head as if understanding and continued on down the hallway, much to the relief of the weapons mistress. Had he been a more experienced Hyuuga, he might've been able to pinpoint exactly what was wrong with her with only one glance. On second thought, maybe it was just that he really didn't give much of a fuck.

In any case, she continued to follow the older man until they reached a large set of double doors. She was quite familiar with these doors, having spent the better part of two years behind them with her best friend.

Or, soon to be ex-best friend.

The guard bowed and quickly stepped away, almost as if he knew that shit was about to go down. _'Coward,'_ she thought, watching his retreating back with the coldest glare she could manage. Even though she said that, she would've done the exact same thing if she was in his position; only she would've been running away at a much faster pace, and she wouldn't have stopped until she reached the outskirts of the village.

Taking in a deep breath, she lifted a hand calloused by years of working with weapons to tap lightly on the door. Her eyes shifted once again to the guard walking away down the hall, and she idly wondered if it was in her best interest to do the same. She'd tangled with a Hyuuga or two in her lifetime, and from personal experience, she could say that her chances of survival were about fifty-fifty; _if that_.

She was once again thrown out of her thoughts when the left side of the doors opened to reveal a young, pale-eyed girl with long brown hair. She looked up at the older woman with an impassive stare, but nonetheless turned to look back at whoever was left in the room.

"It's Tenten-san." A surprised gasp followed by the sounds of exaggerated bustling and cleaning wafted from the large room, leaving Tenten wondering what the hell they'd been doing before she had arrived. She quickly found her answer when she finally took a look at the younger Hyuuga's face.

Someone had applied a small amount of blush to both of the girl's cheeks, making her look much more alive than she usually did. A generous amount of ruby red lipstick adorned her lips, and her hair was pulled back into a loose ponytail to reveal her soft, girlish features. No doubt, this was Hinata's doing.

"Well, don't you look cute!" Tenten exclaimed, glad to have something else to distract her from her current situation. "Did your onee-chan help you with it?" The lithe girl only nodded, a ghost of a smile appearing on her lips. She then dipped her head towards the jounin and exited the room with barely contained excitement, leaving the woman wondering what exactly had the genin so anxious.

"Tenten-chan, where have you been?! I haven't seen you for over three weeks now!" Hinata asked, suddenly appearing in the doorway. She wrapped her brown-haired friend in a tight hug, obviously happy to see the older girl. The weapons mistress smiled uneasily, awkwardly returning the gesture.

"Yeah, uh, you too. Actually, Hinata-chan, I something to tell --"

"Did you see Hanabi-chan? Didn't she look adorable?!" The Hyuuga heir ushered her friend into the room, motioning for her to take a seat on the now cleared bed. Sighing deeply, Tenten nodded her head and forced a smile onto her face.

"Yeah, she did. What's the occasion?" A knowing glint appeared in Hinata's eye; one that she usually only saw in Sakura or Ino's eyes when they were passing on the latest village gossip.

"You know the Sandaime's grandson? Konohamaru-kun?" she asked, her eyes practically glowing with mischievousness. Tenten nodded again, almost rolling her eyes in exasperation. Who _didn't_ know of the boy? He was practically a Naruto clone, and he'd pulled all -- and then some -- of the blond's most classic pranks. Although she was ashamed to admit it, her favorite technique was by far the Oiroke no Jutsu: Otoko no Ko Doushi no jutsu. She didn't find Sai or Sasuke all that attractive alone, but together...

No. Now was not the time for this. She had more important things to worry about than whether or not she could get Naruto to imitate the jutsu for her whenever she pleased.

"Well, it turns out Hanabi-chan has a thing for him! Isn't that cute?" Tenten nodded her head unenthusiastically, forcing another grin onto her face. "She's just like me when I was her age! It's kind of funny that we both like the same kind of guys, don't you think?"

"Uh, yeah, funny. Hey, Hinata-chan, actually--"

"What if we ended up having a double wedding? Hanabi-chan and Konohamaru-kun along with Naruto-kun and I!" The jounin winced. Fuck, she'd been trying to tell her before she said something sappy like that. As if noticing her downcast expression, Hinata placed an embarrassed hand over her mouth, her cheeks turning an annoyingly cute shade of red. "Oh! I'm sorry, Tenten-chan! I got a little carried away with my own wayward fantasies. Didn't you have something to tell me?"

If she didn't know any better, she'd say that Hinata was doing this on purpose. She heavily considered excusing herself right then and there to go home, but decided that nothing good could come of trying to hide the truth. She'd find out eventually, anyway; better to tell her now rather than later.

"A-actually, Hinata-chan, I'm...uh...well, you see, I'm sort of...pregnant." Tenten squinched her eyes shut in relief, glad that she'd said it before she chickened out. She lifted one eyelid to gage her friend's reaction, but was startled to see that the Hyuuga's face was completely void of emotion. It was as if someone had literally sucked out that little corner of the brain that told normal people to look shocked in these short of situations.

"You...oh my God! Tenten-chan, congratulations!" Hinata shrieked, hopping to her feet and scaring Tenten shitless. "When did you find out? How far along are you? I have to arrange a baby shower right away!" For a few seconds, the brown-haired girl stared at the hysterical girl in absolute shock. She was...cheering? Why? This was the complete opposite of what she'd been expecting. If anything, she expected Hinata to be screaming at _her_. How many girls would cheer when they just found out that their best friend was knocked up by --

Oh. _Fuck_. Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, _fuck_.

She'd forgotten to mention the part about Naruto being the one to impregnate her. Yeah, that was pretty important.

"Hinata-chan, please stop." The blue-haired girl glanced over her shoulder to look at Tenten in confusion.

"What? Why?" As if realizing something, Hinata's eyes widened to the size of saucers, making the weapons mistress wonder if she'd finally figured it out. "You're going to abort the baby?!" Okay, so she hadn't figured it out. Not that she expected her too, of course.

Unfortunately, both girls had failed to realize that there was a third person listening in on their conversation. Said person had been casually walking towards the room, on his way to see if his dearest cousin wanted to get some early afternoon training in. Upon getting within five feet of the door, he'd heard an abundant amount of shrieking coming from inside. He couldn't catch most of what the shrieking person had said, but he'd the words 'baby' and 'shower' quite clearly.

It was a well known fact to all that using the Byakugan indoors was strictly prohibited by all clan members; unless, of course, there was an extreme situation that called for it. So, unable to use his doujutsu, Neji decided to rely on his other ninja skills to eavesdrop, standing against the door in a way that wouldn't look overly suspicious in case someone decided to walk by while still being able to hear what was going on quite clearly.

The ANBU officer blinked in surprise when he recognized the voice of his teammate and friend, Tenten. What was she doing here so early? Granted, she sometimes slept over at their home on the weekends, but he certainly would've noticed if she'd been there the night before. Nothing got past him.

Nothing.

"Hinata-chan...you might want to take a seat. This is really important, and I need you to understand." Still believing that her friend was going to get an abortion, the blue-haired girl sat down on her bed in shocked silence, dumbly following the orders of the older girl. Once she was certain that Hinata was properly seated, she continued. "I'm not getting an abortion." Relief visibly washed over her at the news, and she started to stand up once again.

"Oh, Tenten-chan, you had me worr-"

"Hinata. Sit down." Puzzled by her seriousness, the Hyuuga heir once again eased herself back down onto the bed. It was unusual for Tenten to drop the -chan suffix from her name, so it must be serious. Although she didn't know what the problem was, she was confident that she could help her best friend get through it; no matter what the circumstances.

Outside, Neji was furious. Who dared defile his teammate; and get her pregnant, no less! It had to be that bastard, Sai. He always did seem like the raping type, what with his fake smile and constant talk about penises. It wouldn't surprise him in the least if it was that emotionless son of a bitch! Still, he decided to make sure before he took action; no sense wasting energy beating up the wrong guy, although he'd like to kick Sai's creepy ass anyway.

Tenten took a deep breath, briefly closing her eyes as she scrounged up the courage necessary to continue. When she'd first gotten knocked up, she hadn't even considered what Hinata's reaction would be. She'd only been worried about herself and kicking Naruto's ass; nothing more, nothing less. Why couldn't it be like that again? Why must life fuck with her every chance it got?

She gripped the scroll in her pocket, feeling a bit of comfort from knowing that her collection of shields was locked away inside. If worse came to worse, she could summon her entire collection and make a clean getaway. She glanced out of the corners of her eyes to make sure she had a clear escape route (and a backup route, just in case one was cut off) before taking another deep breath and continuing.

"Hinata. The father of my baby is...Naruto." Tenten sat on pins and needles, looking for any kind of sign that she should hightail it out of there. However, the girl sitting on the bed only looked at her with a blank expression. Her eyes were dazed and unfocused, and her arms hung limp at her sides. The sudden sound of giggling reached the older girl's ears, immediately setting her on edge. Out of all the reactions she'd pictured in her mind, she didn't think that Hinata would_ laugh_.

"Oh, I get it! You're joking with me! I know you'd never betray me by doing something like this! You're my best friend, and one of the few people I trust wholeheartedly! You almost got me with that one!" The girl's laughter increased in volume, causing Tenten to scoot closer to the edge of the bed. Oh shit. The bitch was crazy.

"Uh, Hinata-chan? Are...are you okay? You--"

"Of course I'm okay! You know how much Naruto-kun means to me. You wouldn't do something like that; right? You're my best friend, right?" Tenten slowly nodded her head, a sad frown on her face.

"Its...it's true that I wouldn't _normally_ do something like this, but we were drinking, and we started competing, then one thing led to another and--"

"What are you talking about Tenten-chan? Stop making this shit up! You wouldn't do this to me. You're my best friend!" By now, tears were running in torrents down the pale-eyed girl's cheeks, splashing against the clenched fists resting in her lap. "You're my best friend! Best friends don't this to each other, right? Right?"

"You're right, but...it was an accident! We-we're not even dating or anything like that! I don't even like the guy! I mean, he's staying at my place right now to help me out, but it's..." Fuck. She probably shouldn't have mentioned that part. Fingering the scroll in her pocket, the weapons mistress quickly got to her feet, putting a sizable amount of distance between them. She'd seen this before; numerous times. It happened all the time on missions, where clients or the family of clients were unable to accept that a loved one had died. While she was used to dealing with the reactions of normal civilians, dealing with Hinata-chan was totally different. She could_ kill _her if she got hysterical enough, and quite honestly, she had no intentions of dying anytime soon.

Things outside the door weren't much better. Neji's face was frozen in shock. Out of all the people he'd thought of, Naruto literally hadn't even crossed his mind. His eyes narrowing in anger, he sharply turned in the opposite direction, heading full speed towards the entrance of the mansion. Even if he did consider the blond one of his close friends, Tenten was even closer. He had to make sure the boy understood exactly what he'd gotten himself into by getting his teammate pregnant.

AKA, he had to kick his ass.

The guards watched in confusion as the Hyuuga prodigy rushed past them like a gust of wind. His Byakugan already activated, he set about the tedious task of searching out his other teammate; Rock Lee. Partly because he deserved to be one of the first to know, but mostly because he'd need someone to hold him back in case he started to go too far.

Naruto would regret the day he even _looked_ at Tenten. Oh, would he regret it.

Had he stayed to listen just a few seconds longer, he would have heard the scream of outrage that poured from Hinata's throat, and the accompanied shriek of fear that erupted from Tenten's. Her Byakugan blazing, the Hyuuga literally flew from the bed with a palm outstretched, killing intent flowing through her veins and light blue chakra swirling around her body. For the first time since she'd become apart of Team Gai, Tenten was glad that she'd helped Neji train for all these years.

Thinking quickly she flipped backwards onto her hands, in the process kicking her former best friend's hand into the air. After lowering herself to her feet, she grabbed the scroll in her pocket and forced some chakra into the paper, summoning one of the smaller shields in her arsenal. Just in time, too, as Hinata's other hand connected quite solidly with the hard metal of the shield with enough force to put a small dent in it.

"Hinata-chan! Calm down! I'm sorry!" Tenten yelled, edging towards the window. Seeing where she was going, the Hyuuga heir was quick to cut her off, lunging for a third attack. This time, the blow glanced Tenten's bicep, causing the older girl to drop the shield to the ground. The thing was far too heavy to carry with only one arm; and that was one of the smaller ones. "Please, Hinata-chan, it was an accident! You know I'd never do this on purpose!" Unfortunately, the smaller girl refused to listen to reason, and was already preparing her next attack.

"I'll kill you! I'll fucking kill you and that little shit inside of you!" Hinata screamed, pumping as much chakra as humanly possible into her hand. When she was certain she had enough to deal the final blow, she ran forward with the intent to kill. Luckily for Tenten, a swarm of guards burst through the door, forming a protective barrier in front of her. All five of the men simultaneously aimed towards her hand, and with a loud bang, they successfully cancelled out her attack. Soon after, three of the men grabbed and restrained her to prevent her from doing further damage.

"Hinata-sama, please calm down!" one of the guards yelled, struggling to maintain a grip on the viciously fighting girl's arm.

"Let me go! I'll kill you, bitch! You fucking backstabbing bitch! I'll fucking slit your throat!" A pang of pain pulsed through Tenten at her words, and she suddenly felt too weak to stand. She knew that this was a bad idea from the start; however, she didn't regret it. She couldn't. It was better to tell her now than let her find out from someone else. However, that didn't make it hurt any less.

"H-Hinata-chan, I..."

"Shut up! Shut the _fuck_ up! I'll fucking stab you in your fat slutty stomach! You-" At that moment, one of the guards had the decency to knock the girl out with a well placed chop to the back of her neck. She collapsed into their arms shortly after, her face still furrowed in anger.

"T-thank you..." she mumbled, still staring at her former friend in awe. She didn't even think Hinata knew those words! The familiar feeling of someone watching her permeated her senses, and she turned to see a wide eyed Hanabi staring at the scene with no small amount of shock. The girl's fingers were clenched roughly around the doorknob, and her eyes were wide with fear. "Hanabi-chan..."

"Get out," Hanabi said, her voice coming out as more of a whimper than anything. Tenten stared at the girl for a few seconds, unable to believe what she was hearing. First Hinata, and now Hanabi?! "Get out!" This time, the girl screamed louder than anyone had ever heard her scream before, her face a light pink with exertion and anger. Fat tears rolled down her cheeks, but despite this, she still managed to shoot the jounin a murderous glare. Her head falling, Tenten slowly got to her feet and walked towards the open window, figuring it to be the quickest (and safest) way out of the compound. She glanced back at them one more time with a face full of pain and sorrow.

"I'm sorry..." With that, she disappeared through the window, never looking back even once as she ran towards home.

-------------

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

Arranging his fingers into the familiar cross sign that he used far too often, Uzumaki Naruto called forth enough chakra to produce twenty clones of himself, all of them surrounding him in a perfect circle. Each of them held a freshly sharpened kunai in their hands, and each of them were focused on the grinning blond standing in the direct center of the group. A second later, they all disappeared in a flash of yellow.

The clearing was filled with the sound of kunai clashing against each other, and the occasional 'pop' wafted out from the storm of yellow and orange. Not even the Sharingan would be able to keep up with the speed they were moving as they used the freshly learned Hiraishin to zip and zoom around the field.

Finally, after ten straight minutes of this, a single Naruto stood triumphant. Or rather, he _would_ be standing if he wasn't currently gasping for breath on his hands and knees. Just as he was about to get up, two dark shadows appeared over him, immediately putting him on guard.

"Naruto," Neji said, his voice oddly cold. Still, the blond was glad that it wasn't an enemy, and instantly relaxed.

"Oh, Neji, it's you. I know you guys are ANBU now, but it still isn't a good happen to teleport so close to an armed ninja like--" A sudden kick to his jaw quickly shut him up, and he was sent flying ten feet before he was able to gain enough of his bearings to spin himself onto his feet. The blow had hurt, and touching his now tender jaw, he correctly assessed that the kick had come from Lee. "What the fuck are you doing?!" he yelled, eyes narrowing at the two men. Both of them wore eerily blank expressions, and while it wasn't uncommon to see the look on the older Hyuuga's face, it was bone-chillingly scary to see it on the normally loud and exuberant mini-Gai.

"What are _we_ doing? Naruto-kun, it is _us_ who should be asking what _you_ are doing!" Lee yelled, his bushy eyebrows furrowing in anger. "How could you do that to Tenten-san?! I never would have guessed that you would force yourself on--"

"Whoa, hold the fuck up! _She_ forced herself on _me_!" Another sharp kick to his jaw sent him rolling along the ground, causing him to tumble back-first into an especially sharp rock. The kick hadn't hurt as much as the first one, so it had to have come from Neji.

"How dare you say such an idiotic and obviously untrue thing?! She'd never betray Hinata-sama like that! And to think that she was trying to protect you by calling it an accident!" Instantly appearing next to the blond, the Hyuuga picked him up and roughly shoved him up against the nearest tree. "How do you plan to make up for this?! Give us one reason why we shouldn't kill you right here and now!" Naruto stared into his friend's fierce white eyes with a small amount of fear. He'd only seen the man snap twice in his lifetime; the first time was during the Chuunin Exams when he fought Hinata, and the second time was when Sai had said something about hiring Hinata as his personal milk dispenser.

It was hard to remember exactly what he'd said, as the blond had suffered a mild concussion while trying to pull the furious Hyuuga prodigy off of his still creepily grinning teammate.

Thinking quickly, Naruto used the Hiraishin to teleport himself away from Neji. God was he thankful that he hadn't cleaned up his special kunai yet. Unfortunately, he hadn't counted on the fact that Lee would notice the kunai too, and was mildly surprised when the bobble-haired boy launched a powerful fist into his unsuspecting gut. The bitter, coppery taste of blood was prevalent in his mouth, and before he had a chance to recover from the sudden attack, Lee slammed his knee into his chin.

Unfortunately, it didn't end there. Out of nowhere, Neji shoved him to the ground and gripped him around the collar, banging the back of his head against the ground.

"I asked you a question! How do you plan to make up for this?!" When Naruto didn't answer right away (Due to the immense pain he was currently experiencing), the Hyuuga viciously backhanded him across the face with his free hand. "Huh?!"

"I...I..." Naruto started, struggling to come up with a coherent sentence. It was pretty damn hard to think of something to say when your brain was rattling around inside of your head. It took a few seconds, but the jounin was finally able to get his thoughts in order enough to answer the seething man. "I'm...going to be there for her and the baby. Forever." The serious (but pained) look on his face caused Neji to loosen his grip slightly, but he quickly tightened it and pulled the boy closer to his face.

"What makes you think I'm going to believe you just because you say that?! What makes you think you could even _hope_ to support Tenten?!" A small grin appeared on the blond's face, and looking straight into the ANBU officer's eyes, he opened his mouth to speak.

"You should know better than anyone. I'll do whatever it takes. I never go back on my word; that's my nindo, my shinobi way." An annoyed frown appeared on Neji's face, but he let go of Naruto's collar, mercifully allowing him to fall back to the ground. Lee looked on in shocked horror, his eyes wide and mouth hanging open at the hinge.

"Is that all we are going to do to him? After what he did?!" the man exclaimed, his eyebrows twitching with each word.

"There's nothing else we_ can_ do. This guy's serious." Standing up, he glared down at Naruto one last time. "But if we find out that you've made her cry -- or hell, even made her sad -- we'll come find you. And next time, we won't be _nearly_ as gentle." If this was gentle, Naruto certainly didn't want to find out what the fuck the prodigy considered rough. He watched through heavy-lidded eyes as the men walked away from the field, relieved that the pain was finally over. Granted, he probably could've gotten away if he really wanted to, but it was much better to let them vent their anger right now than to let the frustration build up over time; he knew that lesson quite well.

Pushing himself to his feet, he slowly began to uproot and put away his kunai, wincing each time he had to bend over to reach for the weapons. If this was just the first month, he hated to see what the next eight would bring.

------------------------------

"I'm back!" Naruto called, stepping through the open doorway and into Tenten's apartment. He waited a few seconds for a reply, and when none came, he shrugged and eased out of his shinobi sandals. His body still ached a bit from the prior beat down he'd received from his 'friends', but for the most part, the bastard fox had already healed the more painful wounds.

He walked deeper into the apartment, looking for any sign of the brown-haired girl he could find. Her apartment wasn't that much bigger than his, so it only took him a minute or two to figure out that she was in her bedroom. He noticed with a small bit of concern that the door was closed; usually she kept it open, claiming that it put her at ease to be able to hear everything that went on in her apartment. In fact, he'd only seen it closed once, and that was on the night he'd first started sleeping over at her place. She couldn't take the isolation, though, and had quickly opened it -- but not without telling him that she'd tie his penis in a knot if he ever tried to enter her room without permission.

Naruto leaned closer to the door, lightly pressing his ear up against it. He couldn't hear much except for what sounded like light sobbing, and placing his hand on the doorknob, he slowly turned and opened the large piece of wood.

The room was eerily dark inside, making it damn near impossible to see anything except for the digital alarm clock and a slightly shivering silhouette. Looking closer, he recognized the silhouette as Tenten.

"Tenten? Are you okay?" Naruto asked, taking a cautious step into the room. The girl noticeably froze when he called her, but she didn't make any move to turn around.

"Get out." Her voice was oddly low and shaky, and remembering Neji's words from only half an hour before, the blond took another step towards the sobbing girl.

"Tenten? Tenten-chan? What's wrong? Are you hurt? Do you want me to take you to the hospital?" the jounin slowly nodded her head, causing Naruto to immediately kneel by her side. Shit, Lee and Neji would kill him.

"Where?! Where does it hurt?!" he exclaimed, resting his hand on her shoulder. She lifted her head from her arms, looking at him with a tear-streaked and heavily pained face. Even in the dark he could see that she'd drenched the sheets in her tears. Tenten grabbed his hand and placed it over her chest.

"Right here." The girl broke down into tears, using her hands to hide her face from his worried eyes. If she looked at him, she'd just cry harder. He was a constant reminder to the unforgivable trespass she'd committed against her former best friend. Naruto's eyes opened wider in understanding as the..._conversation_ he'd had with her teammates made sense.

"You told Hinata-chan, didn't you?" he asked, keeping his voice as soft as he could. She nodded her head as best as she could with her hands covering her face, her sobbing increasing in force and volume.

"I can't do it, Naruto! I can't...I can't take this! I don't want to have this baby anymore! I don't want Hinata-chan to hate me! It's too hard!" Her body stiffened in surprise when a pair of strong arms encircled her, and she jolted lightly when Naruto pulled her against his chest.

"It's not your fault. It was an accident, and you did the right thing by telling her rather than letting her find out on her own. She'll eventually realize how hard it was for you to tell her in your own words, and I'm sure she'll forgive you in no time; just don't blame yourself, Tenten." Shocked, Tenten slowly lifted her head until she was staring straight into his cerulean blue eyes, marveling at the fact that words like that could come out of the village idiot. Perhaps she'd underestimated his intelligence a bit. She dipped her head back into his chest and leaned a bit more heavily against him, already feeling better than she had only minutes before. He really was good at making people feel better, even if most of the time he did it unintentionally.

"Thanks," she murmured, closing her eyes as she relaxed in his arms. Naruto only grunted a response, immensely grateful that he'd dodged that bullet. If word got out to Neji or Lee about this, well...

His thoughts were immediately cut off when a pair of lips were pressed firmly against his own, forcing his eyes to open wide and his body to freeze in shock. He eventually regained enough of his motor skills to move his eyeballs downward to stare at the girl who was currently overloading his senses.

"What the _hell _are you doing?!" Naruto yelped, pushing away from Tenten and backing up towards the opposite wall. To his chagrin, the girl only followed on her hands and knees, a very dangerous and scary look in her eyes. It didn't help that the shirt she was wearing revealed all of her...uh, 'assets' to his fearful eyes.

"Thanking you. Are you complaining?" The blond gaped at her, steadily moving as far away from her as he could.

"Of course I am! This is how you got pregnant in the first place! Besides, didn't you say no sex?!" His words fell on deaf ears as she continued to crawl in his direction, a small, nervous grin appearing on her face. He didn't know it, but her heart was thumping powerfully against her ribcage, unable to believe what she was doing. Although it was hard to explain, she somehow felt as though he was all that she had left. Hinata had made it pretty clear that she didn't want anything to do with her anymore, and she couldn't exactly rely on her teammates to help her with the pregnancy or raising of the child.

Besides that, she'd been feeling horny as hell for the past week.

"What does it matter? It's not like I can get _more_ pregnant, right?" Naruto blinked. Well, she definitely had a point there.

"But...we're not even dating or anything like that! Don't you think it feels wrong?"

"People have sex with strangers all the time. I don't see how this is any worse, since we've known each other for almost five years now. Are you gay or something?" The blond's mouth dropped open.

"F-fuck no! No way! I'm not..." Tenten silenced him with another deep kiss, using her hands to push him firmly against the wall. Sometime during their exchange, she had managed to trap an unsuspecting Naruto in the corner, leaving him with absolutely no place to escape to. Worse, all of his kunai were still in the weapons pouch attached to his pants. To his relief, she pulled away long enough to stare him straight in the eyes, the moonlight from the window illuminating his frightened features.

"Why don't you want to have sex with me? Do you think I'm ugly?" she asked, her eyes moistening at the thought.

"No! Definitely not! You're pretty, really! I just, uh, you know...still like Sakura-chan and stuff." Tenten's eyes immediately narrowed, and her mouth formed a tight, angry line.

"Fine, I understand. Then we'll have to do this the hard way." For his part, Naruto was floored by the immediate change in moods. He somehow recalled the book he'd read on pregnancy mentioning extreme mood swings, but he didn't think that they'd be this..._scary. _She'd literally gone from zero to bitch in under two seconds!Gulping loudly, he nervously met her eyes.

"T-the hard way? W-what do you mean?" Rather than answer right away, Tenten straddled his lap, arching her face towards his and giving him a menacing glare.

"Remember that promise you made three weeks ago? The one where you became my bitch?" His eyes widening, Naruto instantly understood what was about to happen. "I see you get it now. If you won't give it to me by choice, I'll have to take it from you by force." Despite his mind's unwillingness to bend to her will, his body was singing a different tune. Something about her forcefulness, well, turned him on. He didn't have time to ponder his position as a natural uke as Tenten wasted no time in jamming her lips onto his. This kiss was nothing like the previous two; those had been more careful, tender even. The one she was laying on him now was nothing less than vicious.

As she kissed him, her hands set about the task of pulling off his deep orange jacket, sending the garment flying to the other side of the room.

"Tenten, please, dont--"

"Shut the_ fuck _up and strip." The commanding tone she used scared the shit out of him, and not wanting to piss her off any further, he slowly began to pull his black and red t-shirt over up his chest. "Move!" she yelled, pushing his hands away from the shirt. "You're going too slow!" The jounin grabbed the tee and almost ripped it over his head, sending it flying to the opposite corner. Naruto could only sit in a detached state of shock as she attacked his bare chest with her hands and mouth, acting completely different from the Tenten he knew.

For her part, Tenten would be lying if she said she wasn't doing some of this out of spite. She was, for all intents and purposes, pissed off at Hinata for not believing her about she and Naruto's relationship. There really wasn't anything remotely sexual going on between them other than what had happened that first night, but if she didn't want to listen to reason, then fine. She'd_ make_ it true.

The other part was that she needed something to take her mind of off what had happened that day -- a bit ironic considering that she was also doing it _because_ of what had happened. She felt bad for making Naruto cooperate with her, but not bad enough to stop. He'd enjoy it sooner or later; he was a guy, after all.

True to her word, she felt a pair of large, warm hands slide under the back her shirt to rub the smooth skin of her back, an action which quickly sent pleasurable shudders throughout her body. She sighed into his chest once again, doubling her efforts in arousing the jounin beneath her. Unfortunately for the blond, she soon lost interest in giving him pleasure, and leaning back, she hurriedly pulled her shirt over her head to reveal her naked breasts to his eyes.

Admittedly, she was horribly embarrassed to be showing them off to someone other than her doctor. This was the first time (that she could remember) that anyone else had seen her topless, and it was much more of a nerve wracking experience than she thought it'd be. Would he like them? Were they too small? Would the thing poking at her inner thigh deflate at the sight of them?

Her fears were put to rest when his eyes locked on to her exposed teats, his mouth wide open in what she assumed to be lust. As if they had a mind of their own, his hands moved from her back to her chest almost instantaneously, gripping the smooth flesh gently in his calloused hands. The simple action evoked a quiet sigh from her, and grinning down at the still shell-shocked blond, she pushed out her chest a little more and tilted her head.

"Still want to stop?" she asked, knowing full well what his answer would be. Naruto could only dumbly shake his head, eyes never leaving her perfectly formed cones for a second. Her grin widening, she dropped her hands to his pants and began to fiddle with the button on his pants, butterflies dive bombing in the pit of her stomach. To be completely honest, she'd never seen a man's penis before. Or, she should say, she didn't _remember_ seeing a man's penis before. Sure, she'd seen the occasional little boy's ding-dong while being forced to work at the Academy, but this...this was totally different.

Taking in a nervous breath, she slowly unzipped his pants, her heart rate increasing with each second. Naruto too seemed to be anxiously watching her every move, and she took some comfort in knowing that he was just as -- if not more -- nervous than she was. The black pants quickly gave way to a pair of bright orange and black boxers, the poor garment being stretched to its limits by his..._thing_. She glanced up at him one last time before yanking both his pants and underwear down in one shot, revealing his cock to her in all its throbbing glory.

"..._That_ was inside _me_?!" she exclaimed, staring at the bobbing red organ in a mixture of surprise and fear. The blond's face was almost as red as his penis, and she couldn't help but wonder how the hell he had enough blood to send to both places at once. Still, she wasn't one to give up halfway, so she licked her lips and reached for his cock, her hand shaking in nervousness the entire time. As her hand wrapped around it, a soft gasp ripped itself from Naruto's throat, causing her to jump along with him. Ensuring that he wasn't going to die or anything, she turned her attention back to the thick piece of meat resting in her hand.

His tool was hot to the touch, figuratively burning her hand with its heat. She couldn't get one hand around it, so she quickly brought the other one around to help get a grip on it. The thing looked to be about the length of three of her fists, and she wasn't even sure if the thing was fully inflated yet! Curiously, she moved her hands up towards her face, remembering hearing about this particularly maneuver from Ino. The effect was immediate. Naruto let loose a loud groan, his eyes briefly rolling into the back of his head.

"Do...do that again," he asked, his eyes staring intently into hers. Tenten smirked minutely and nodded, repeating the action a bit faster this time. When he groaned again, she began to experiment. She sped up the pace of her hands, watching his face as it twisted and grimaced in pleasure. Something about watching him enjoy the simple action made her happy too, and with her confidence boosted, she dipped her head towards his cock and gave it a hesitant lick. "Agh! Fuck!"

"What?! What's wrong?!" Even though she asked, her hands never stopped pumping. Naruto shook his head to show that he was okay, briefly opening his eyes to look at her.

"Felt...good." That was all the encouragement she needed. Her head immediately returned to his lap, licking and sucking the head of his penis into her mouth. She nearly gagged when he involuntarily jerked his hips up towards her face, but was quickly able to gain her bearings again, using one hand to hold his hips down in case it happened again. After a few minutes of this, she noticed that his dick seemed to be getting bigger. She wasn't sure if that was normal or not, so she took her mouth of his tool and looked up at him.

"Do you feel funny?" she asked, titling her head cutely as she continued to pump. Naruto's mouth opened and closed multiple times, but words refused to escape his lips. Finally, after a few seconds of silence, he managed to croak out a couple of words.

"Tenten...I...it..." The weapon's mistress looked back down at the thing in confusion; only to be hit by a powerful burst of white stuff right between the eyes. More and more of the stuff hit her in the face, and she quickly let go of his cock to attempt to wipe some of it off of her. His grunts and groans accompanied the strange event, and while it was a big surprising, it was also kind of...fun. Feeling a bit daring, she wiped some of the stuff off of the top of breasts and licked it from her fingertip.

"Hm...tastes kind of salty." The blond groaned again, his face the perfect picture of post-orgasmic bliss. Never in his life had he ever felt something so good! If this was sex, well, he suddenly understood why everyone liked to do it so much! He opened his eyes to stare at Tenten, feeling oddly aroused by seeing her covered in his seed. "What?" she inquired, noticing his piercing stare.

"What about you?" The girl blinked in mild surprise. By the way he'd looked a few seconds ago, she thought he'd forgotten all about her. Her cheeks suddenly turned deep scarlet, and she waved a hand in front of her face in embarrassment.

"You don't have to do me. We can just fuck." A frown appeared on Naruto's face. He was never one to take something without giving something back in return, and while the situation was a bit different, it was essentially the same principle. This time, he was on the prowl. Before she could move, he latched his fingers into pockets of her baggy red pants and pulled them down, revealing a pair of pink 'What's Up Doggy' panties. It took every ounce of his willpower not to laugh, and noticing this, Tenten smacked him on top of the head. "What are you laughing at? If I remember correctly, you have a pair of 'Energy Protectors' boxer shorts."

"Hey, don't diss the Energy Protectors!" he said, sticking his tongue out at the bemused girl. A sudden mischievous smirk appeared on her face, and spreading her legs a little wider, she gave him the sultriest stare she could manage.

"How about you put that tongue to better use?" Predictably, Naruto's face heated up. He'd read plenty of Jiraiya's books to know what she wanted of him. Gulping audibly, he hooked his thumbs into the sides of her panties and slowly pulled them down, his eyes growing wider and wider with each millimeter of flesh that was revealed. Finally, after what seemed like years of effort, he revealed her vagina to his hungry eyes.

"Wow." If it weren't for the fact that it was her pussy he was staring at, she would've laughed. Instead, she grabbed the back of his head and not-so-gently pulled him towards her nether regions.

"Eat up." The blond looked up at her in shock. She changed moods faster than Orochimaru changed bodies. Still, seeing no reason to refuse her command (Not that he could even if he wanted to), he hesitantly reached his head towards her glistening slit, already feeling the heat coming from between her legs. He was pleased to see that she preferred to trim down there, as getting hair in his teeth was one thing he wouldn't like the experience.

He stuck out his tongue for the second time that night, taking a cautious lick at her steaming vulva. The effect was immediate. When her hips almost broke his nose with the force of her hump, he realized that she was a lot more wound up than he could ever be. And _that_ was scary.

Tenten let loose a quiet moan, gripping his head tighter within her hands. The feelings she got from that simple action were incredible! Hell, if that was what one lick could do...another surge of pleasure washed over her as the blond once again licked at her folds, a bit more forcefully this time. When she moaned again, he began to go at her with gusto, using his tongue in ways neither of them thought possible. Remembering something he'd read in one of Ero-sennin's books, Naruto began to spell out words with his tongue, literally catapulting her towards the edge. Just when she thought it couldn't get in any better, the blond used one of his hands to rub the bundle of nerves sitting directly above her vagina.

That did it.

With a powerful scream, she shuddered and jerked her way through an orgasm, forcing him to hold her down for his own safety. Both her fingers and toes curled in pleasurable agony, and using what little movement she had left, she ground her hips into his face to get even an ounce of extra pleasure.

"Holy fuck," she sighed, eyes dazed and unfocused, "That's sex?!" Naruto chuckled at the fact that she'd said the same exact question he'd thought less than fifteen minutes ago. Did all virgins think the same thing after their first time? "And how the hell are you so good? Is this really your first time? Well, other than _that_ time..." The blond looked positively appalled at the accusation, and crossing his arms, he turned his head away from his fellow jounin indignantly.

"If you're going to think that way about me, I don't want to sleep with you anymore!" The feel of a warm tongue on his cock quickly caused him to harden despite his words, and giggling lightly Tenten looked up at him with a knowing smile.

"That's not what Junior says," she said, pumping his shaft with both hands. Naruto groaned again, closing his eyes and leaning back on his hands as she worked him over for the second time. The subtle roughness of her hands felt like bliss on the velvety skin of his penis, giving him just the right amount of pleasure without being uncomfortable. When she suddenly halted her ministrations, he popped his eyes open with surprise, his mouth already opening to ask why she'd stopped. His question was immediately answered when he got an eyeful of breast, and feeling her hand trying to hold his cock straight up in the air, he couldn't help but smirk at her eagerness. Somehow, the situation seemed backwards.

"Impatient, aren't you?" She lowered her eyes long enough to shoot him a small glare, but didn't bother answering his rhetorical question. Instead, she took a deep breath and plunged herself down onto his rigid dick, earning a gasp of pleasure from both parties. For her part, Tenten was pleasantly surprised to feel that it hadn't hurt at all. While there'd been a small bit of discomfort on the way down, his penis now felt like it belonged inside of her. In that brief moment, she felt more satisfied than she ever had in her entire life.

The feel of Naruto moving beneath her brought a smirk to her face. For someone who'd chided her for being impatient only seconds ago, he sure seemed ready to get started. Unsure of what exactly to do, she slowly ground her hips into his, moaning lightly when the simple action sent sparks of pleasure all throughout her body. Yeah, that was definitely the right thing to do. She repeated the action again, this time rotating her hips as she pressed herself into him.

"Go faster," Naruto moaned, using his hands to egg her on. Rather than answer, she complied with his request by increasing the speed of her hips, raising and lowering herself slightly to provide both of them with more stimulation. the scratchiness of his pubic hair elicited even louder moans from her lips, and in an attempt to quiet herself down lest she bother the neighbors, Tenten leaned forward and captured his mouth in a wet, steamy kiss. To her delight, she could still taste herself on his lips and tongue.

Unfortunately, she couldn't take the varying sensations for long. With a particularly loud moan, she shook and convulsed her way to another orgasm, earning a low gasp of pleasure from the blond beneath her. Her body refused to move after her speedy climax, so she simply delighted in the feeling of her partner continuing to shove himself up inside of her as best he could from his position on the floor. She should've known it wouldn't last for long.

Before she could even blink, Naruto wrapped his lean, muscular arms around her waist and picked her up, giving her a strange sense of vertigo that only added to her bliss. After lying her down on her feather-filled mattress, the boy immediately began to jackhammer himself into her, leaning closely over her still lightly shaking form.

"Oh, fuck, Naruto..." she murmured, barely able to believe that she was still able to talk through the pounding she was receiving. Glancing up into his eyes, she realized that they had turned more of a purplish color; probably a side effect of having the nine tails sealed inside of him. Not that she was complaining, of course.

Her body was eventually able to regain some mobility, so she slowly began to lift her hips up to meet his, thrilling in the extra sparks of pleasure the simple action provided. Beads of sweat dripped onto her chest from the jounin above her, and she watched the rippling of his muscles with mild awe. She'd never noticed before, but Naruto was pretty fuckin' ripped -- even for a shinobi! He was somewhere in between Neji and Lee, which was pretty damn good considering that the bushy-browed man was voted 'Man of Steel' two years running.

An especially hard thrust snapped her out of her thoughts, literally tearing a squeal from her throat. The slow burning in the bottom of her stomach signaled the approach of another orgasm, and judging by the slightly pained look on Naruto's face, he was about ready to cum too. She reached a shaky hand towards his face, lightly tracing the lines of his whisker marks with her fingertips.

"Go ahead," Tenten whispered, still cupping his cheek in her hand. As if abiding by her words, the blond nuzzled his cheek deeper into her hand, closing his eyes in concentration while speeding up his pace at the same time. She was both amazed and thrilled that he could go any faster, but smirked when she saw his face twist into an even more pained expression. Apparently, that speed came with a price.

Suddenly, his body stopped and lurched forward inside of her. Thick, hot ropes of cum coated her insides, and as he twisted and spasmed on top of her, a low moan rolling it's way out of his mouth. The feel of seed splashing against her womb pushed her over the edge too, and she clenched her teeth in an attempt to keep from screaming. Their combined thrashing doubled their pleasure, and both wondered at the same time if they'd ever be able to come down from their orgasmic peaks. Finally, after what seemed like hours, Naruto buckled and fell on top of Tenten, barely able to maneuver his body so that his full weight wasn't resting on top of her.

Neither one of them was able to speak as their combined pants filled the room. It took a few minutes, but eventually, the blond gained enough energy to roll himself over and out of the brunette with a wet 'pop.' Instantly, their combined fluids began to seep out of her in an obscene manner, causing the weapons mistress to giggle lightly in mild disbelief.

"What's so funny?" Naruto asked, rolling his eyes over to look at her. Small beads of sweat dotted her chest, and her dark brown hair was matted tightly against her forehead. The wide, maniacal grin that appeared on her face confused him, and he lifted an eyebrow in curiosity as he waited for her answer.

"I wanna do it again."

At that moment, Naruto knew he was fucked.

**AN: Pun intended. I didn't mean to write this...beast. Was going to split it down the middle, but then the second half would've basically been all lemon. Seriously; 4k word lemon. Amazing considering that I don't particularly like writing them.**

**PS - Sorry Hinata fans.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Illegitimate Love**

**Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto.**

**Chapter 5**

"No...stop...please...!" Naruto mumbled, head turning from side to side as he fought off the nightmarish succubus attempting to eat him alive. The demon towered over him with a positively evil smile, her long, snake-like tongue slithering from between her lips as she gazed upon him with unadulterated lust.

Tenten giggled lightly, using a hand to cover her mouth in an attempt to remain quiet. Propping her head up on her remaining hand to get a better view, she watched him toss and turn in the bed next to her with interest. The apprehensive look on his face was absolutely adorable. For some strange, devilish reason that she couldn't quite understand, she just wanted to grab his head and smother it against her chest.

So, she did.

Not even a second later, the sleeping blond's eyes slowly creaked open, his light blue orbs still glazed over with drowsiness and shining in the afternoon light.

"Oh, I'm sorry! Did I wake you up?" Tenten asked. The blond murmured something unintelligible before closing his eyes and snuggling himself deeper into her naked breasts, much to her amusement. When he was asleep, Naruto wasn't half as annoying as he usually was. She ran her fingers through his choppy blond hair, marveling at the softness of the golden strands. What the hell kind of shampoo did he use?! His hair was better than hers!

The boy in her arms shifted for what had to be hundredth time, once again mumbling something about 'demons.' This time, however, a wide yawn escaped him, and he fully opened his eyes -- only to be met with an eyeful of cleavage.

With a speed commonly seen by Kakashi when the newest edition of Icha Icha Paradise is released, Naruto flew backwards out of the bed and onto the floor, letting loose an especially loud cry of agony as he hit the ground.

His whole body ached; every muscle in his body throbbed with pain, and it took a sovereign amount of effort not to cry out again. He hadn't experienced soreness this intense since he and Sasuke had killed Orochimaru for the second time! A flood of memories from the night before slammed into his brain, and he instantly realized where he was.

"Sleep well?" His body tensing, Naruto slowly turned his head to look at the girl who'd raped him repeatedly the night (and morning) before. Her head leaned lazily over the edge of the bed, and her chin rested cutely on her crossed forearms. A smirk appearing on her face, she titled her head and spoke again. "Come back up; we need to talk."

The blond narrowed his eyes and complied, wincing in anguish as he pushed himself up into a sitting position. It took a few minutes, but he was eventually able to lie back down on the bed next to an iniquitously tickled Tenten.

"You look like you're in pain." Naruto glared over at the grinning jounin with as much hate as he could muster; which wasn't much, since even the muscles of his face felt like someone had been pounding on them with a ten ton hammer.

"What did you want to talk about?" he almost spat, turning his eyes away from her again. Tenten's grin dropped at his tone. His reaction was largely unexpected, especially since she'd spent the better part of that morning trying to figure out what to say and do to lower the level of awkwardness.

"What's your problem?"

"What's my problem?! You're treating this like it's some kind of joke!" he yelled, feeling his anger begin to rise with each passing second. Unfortunately, Tenten was not the kind of girl to take being yelled at lightly.

Not many people knew it, but she hadn't lived the most glamorous life. For one, she was an orphan. Despite all of the digging she'd done over the years, she hadn't been able to find even the tiniest clue as to who her parents were. As such, she refused to take on a surname that some faceless administrative assistant had picked out of a hat, resolving to wait until she either got married or found out what her true last name was.

At the age of six, she'd run away from the orphanage in an attempt to make it on her own. It'd been much harder than she thought it'd be, and more often than not, she was forced to either steal food from roadside stands or attack and rob children of their lunch. It wasn't until the Sandaime had caught her in the act of holding up a group of children did she consider becoming a shinobi.

After easily relieving her of the dull kunai she'd found lying in the trash, he'd told her all kinds of stories about the past, detailing the wars and battles that were fought for peace. Out of all of them, her favorites had been the stories about the current Hokage, Tsunade. It was then that she promised to become a better ninja than even the only female sannin; however, it didn't hurt that he'd also told her that all orphans who attended the Academy would be given a monthly stipend and a place to stay.

Tenten took a deep breath of air, fighting to keep her cool lest she do something she'd regret.

"What are _you_ so angry about? _I'm_ the one who's pregnant. _I'm_ the one who has to deal with all the side effects and sickness that comes along with having a baby!"

"That's just it!" he bellowed, sitting up again to glare at her. "You think that just because you're pregnant, you can do whatever the hell you want! What about me? What if I don't want to do it?! You know I'm still in love with Sakura-chan, yet you forced yourself on me anyway!" Tenten's eyes narrowed in anger. Who the hell did he think he was? While she'd fully admit that she had been taking advantage of the situation, he certainly didn't have the right to place all of the blame in her lap.

"Stop acting like the victim! If you really wanted to, you could've easily stopped it! Maybe you're not as in love with Sakura as you thought!" Naruto's jaw dropped open. He stared at her in absolute shock, amazed that her mouth was even able to form such obviously false words. It took him a few seconds, but he was eventually able to get enough control over his surprise to slowly ease himself out of the bed.

He limped over to the opposite side of the room in search of his clothes, remembering that Tenten had tossed them in that direction the night before.

"Where are you going?" the brunette asked, fully sitting up in the bed to look at him. Naruto speedily pulled his pants up his legs, ignoring the burning protest of his muscles. He then began to slip on his shirt and jacket, not bothering to meet the girl's gaze.

"Out." With that, he opened and slammed the door behind him, causing one of the pictures hanging on her wall to fall and smash against the floor. She watched the door for a few more seconds, unable to believe what had just happened. Then again, she had to admit that she wasn't completely surprised; it was just like a man to sleep with a girl and then run out at the next available opportunity.

Falling back onto the bed, she placed her pillow over her face and let out a frustrated scream. Fucking Naruto and his fucking ill-placed anger. Where the hell did he get off pointing the finger at her?! Even worse, he hadn't given her the chance to tell him what she'd wanted to. After sulking for a few more minutes, Tenten eventually rolled out of bed and began to get dressed.

----------------------

Naruto stared at the clock for what had to have been the tenth time in thirty seconds. Wiping his sweaty palms on his pants, he nervously shifted his eyes around the waiting room. Other than himself, only two people were sitting in the large, comfortably decorated room; the receptionist and a stuffy older man who seemed to be positively enthralled with the latest issue of Kunoichi Weekly. That suited the jounin just fine since he really didn't think he'd be able to hold a decent conservation at the moment anyway.

The click of the door opening immediately set him on edge, and he slowly turned his head to see who was coming out.

"Naruto-kun? What are you doing here?" Shizune asked, closing the large door behind her. The blond swallowed the lump that had been forming in his throat. It was just his luck that it'd be someone he knew.

"O-oh, I uh, need to see the Hokage for something." The black-haired woman furrowed her brows in concern. She thought of Naruto as a little brother, and as such, she could instantly tell when something was bothering him. That, and he'd called Tsunade the 'Hokage' rather than 'Baa-chan.'

"Is everything all right?" The blond nodded (a little too quickly) and stood to his feet, shooting the medic-nin an uneasy grin.

"Everything's fine! Great! Same as usual!"

"Really? Then why are you waiting out here? Don't you usually just burst into her office whenever you feel like it?" By now, Shizune had closed the small gap of space between them and was staring intently into Naruto's fearful eyes. Feeling uncomfortable under her scrutinizing gaze, he swiftly averted his eyes and edged around her, heading towards the large double doors that made up the Hokage's office.

"Oh, look at the time! My appointment's starting now! Later Shizune-nee-chan!" Before she could stop him, Naruto disappeared through the doorway and shut the large slabs of wood behind him, leaving a slightly pouting Shizune in his wake. She'd been so close to getting him to spill. Shaking her head, she turned around to head back to the hospital, confident that she'd figure out what was going on with the blond eventually. At that moment, a sudden thought occurred to the woman, causing her to freeze in mid-step.

"...Blond?" she murmured to herself, remembering Tenten mentioning a blond during her first appointment. Now that she thought about, there really weren't that many blonds in Konoha -- and even fewer that were shinobi. Combined with the fact that Naruto had been acting awfully strange lately, it almost seemed as if Naruto was the father of Tenten's baby.

A sharp bark of laughter erupted from her throat, earning strange glances from both the receptionist and the older man. The idea was simply preposterous! To be honest, she wasn't sure if the boy even knew what sex was let alone knew how it worked. Besides, she'd never really seen the two of them together unless there was some kind of group outing or mission. If they had been dating, she would have been one of the first to know about it. Especially since she often eavesdropped on Ino and Sakura's frequent gossip exchanges in the pink-haired girl's office.

Shaking her head one last time in mirth, Shizune walked down the hall to meet Tenten for her next check-up. If Naruto turned out to be the father of Tenten's baby, she'd personally walk up to Kakashi, pull his face mask down, and plant the deepest, hottest kiss she could manage with her limited experience.

Tch, yeah right; as if that would ever happen.

Inside the Hokage's office, Naruto was even more of a nervous wreck than he had been in the waiting room. Tsunade was currently staring at him with a dangerously suspicious glare, folding her hands languidly on top of her desk. Her narrowed brown eyes bore into his fearful blue ones, and he shifted nervously from foot to foot in an attempt to calm down.

"So? What do you want?" She asked, tired of waiting for him to make the first move. The jounin jumped as if he'd been shocked, causing the woman to become even more skeptical.

"O-oh! Well, I was kinda wondering if you'd promote me to ANBU." The woman's eyebrows shot up into her forehead.

"What? Why the sudden interest in becoming an ANBU officer? When I gave you the chance last month, you turned me down. Didn't you want to master the Hiraishin first?" Naruto slowly nodded his head, grinning sheepishly from his place in front of her desk.

"Well, I kinda need the extra money, and I'm pretty much taking ANBU-level missions now anyway." Unconvinced, Tsunade leaned forward a bit more, inadvertently forcing Naruto to cringe and lean back.

"What do you need the extra money for?" The jounin noticeably winced. He was hoping she wouldn't ask that question.

"It's...for a gift. For my friend," Naruto said, wincing again at his words. Fuck, that was lame. The Hokage apparently thought the same as her eyebrows furrowed in disbelief. Seeing no other options, the blond quickly resorted to plan B; beg.

He fell to his knees and shot her his most pathetic face, sticking his lower lip out and widening his eyes to further give him the appearance of a younger child.

"Please, Hokage-sama! I need the money really bad! Just do me this one favor and I'll never ask for anything ever again! Please?!" Rolling her eyes, Tsunade leaned back in her high backed chair. There really wasn't any reason to hold him back if he wanted to become an ANBU officer as he was more than qualified to hold the position. Besides, if he became an officer, she could assign him to be one of her personal guards so that she could keep a closer eye on him.

"Fine, fine, I can get you started in the training program as early as next week. Just get up off the floor already; you look pathetic." In a second, Naruto was on his feet and grinning widely at the older woman.

"Thanks, Baa-chan! I owe you big time!" With a wide grin on his face, the blond turned around and headed towards the exit, trying to reach the door before she asked anymore--

"Hold it." Cursing under his breath, he stopped just short of the large slabs of wood. He should've known he wouldn't get off that easily. Tsunade wasn't the Godaime for nothing, and judging from the indescribably icy shudder that went up his spine, he accurately deduced that this wouldn't end well.

"W-what's up, Baa-chan?" he asked, slowly turning around to face her again. He watched with baited breath as she lifted an unmarked manilla folder from her desk.

"Do you know what this is?" When Naruto shook his head, she continued. "This is a copy of Tenten's latest medical report." Surprisingly, the boy managed to suppress a reaction. He bit the inside of his cheek and put on a fake worried frown.

"Tenten? Is she okay?" The Hokage's eyes narrowed by a fraction of a centimeter.

"That's a tough question to answer. Did she tell you anything? Has she seemed strange lately?"

"Strange? How do you mean?" In his mind, the jounin was patting himself on the back for doing such an expert job of lying. Had he been the boy of two years ago, Tsunade would've caught him as soon as he'd stepped into her office. If he was careful about what he said, he just might be able to get out of this alive.

"Oh, you know; sudden sickness, fatigue, general moodiness. Those kinds of things." It took an extreme amount of willpower not to groan and nod with each symptom she'd named. He'd experienced all three -- and tons more -- side effects firsthand. Still, he couldn't let her know that. He crossed his arms and assumed an innocent thinking pose, pretending as if he was trying to recall a distant memory.

"Hm, I don't think so. She seemed pretty alright to me." The Hokage nodded and let loose a quiet sigh.

"I see, so she's doing her best to hide it. It'll be a real surprise to all of her friends when she passes." Naruto nodded his head in agreement.

"Yeah, I'm sure they'll be -- wait, WHAT?!" he exclaimed, eyes widening and jaw dropping. She was going to die?! She'd seemed fine that morning! Suddenly, everything made sense. No wonder she jumped him the night before; she didn't want to have any regrets before she died! Naruto cursed under his breath. He'd been stupid and selfish to assume that she did it for her own carnal pleasure.

If it was possible, his eyes widened even more as he recalled her wanting to tell him something that morning. Could that have been it? Was she going to tell him about her sickness and eventual death? She couldn't die; not like this. He refused to let it happen! Stalking up to the desk, he slammed his palms onto the hard wooden surface, staring his surrogate mother straight in the eyes.

"Aren't you a doctor?! You're supposed to be the best medic-nin in the shinobi world! Can't you do something?!" Tsunade slowly shook her head, a sad, remorseful look on her face.

"I'm afraid not. At this point, it's best if we just let it happen." Hot tears prickled at the back of his eyeballs, and he speedily lowered his head to hide his face from view. He was an idiot, plain and simple. Now that he thought about it, Tenten really hadn't asked for much. Hell, if he was going to die soon, he might've done the same thing! After getting a relatively good grip on his emotions, Naruto once again raised his eyes to meet the Hokage's.

"Is it because of the baby? Is that why she's going to die? Shit, it's all my fault, isn't it?!" The woman's eyebrows sharply arched downwards.

"I didn't say she was going to die." At Naruto's confused stare, she continued. "I also didn't say anything about a baby."

"W-what?! But you said she was going to pass away!"

"No, I said that her friends would be surprised when she passes. I meant that they'd be surprised at the bulge in her stomach after she passes the first trimester." Fuck. No matter how he looked at it, he was caught. He slowly lifted his hands from the desk and began to back away, already feeling the killing intent rising from the sannin. Putting on an uneasy grin, he scratched the back of his head with one of his hands, using the other to feel for the door behind him.

"Oh, I see! Ahahaha! i thought you meant that she was going to die! Whew, what a relief. Guess I shouldn't have jumped to conclusions, huh?" He watched with fearful eyes as the Godaime stood from her high-backed chair and began to crack her knuckles, approaching him at a slow and steady pace.

"I won't lie to you; this is going to hurt. _A lot_." Naruto winced. He didn't need her to tell him that -- he'd been on the receiving end of one of her punches at least a dozen times. "However, you seem to actually care for Tenten. I haven't seen you react so strongly about anyone since Sasuke. I think it's safe to say that you'll own up to your responsibility."

The jounin blinked. Now that he thought about it, he _had_ been acting a little hysterical. Just the idea of her dying caused his heart to skip a beat, and he idly wondered what he would've done if the fabrication was actually true. Naruto quickly tossed the notion from his mind. He didn't even want to _think_ about it.

"For that, I promise to stop as soon as you fall unconscious. It's the least I can do." With that, the beating of Uzumaki Naruto commenced at the hands of the Godaime Hokage. The last thing he remembered was a chakra infused fist heading straight towards his face.

Oh, and pain. Lots and lots and_ lots_ of pain.

----------------------------------------------------------------

"Did you feel that?" Tenten asked, eyes scanning the room on instinct. Although she wasn't sure, she thought she'd felt a small earthquake only a second ago. Shizune looked up from her clipboard and lifted a curious eyebrow.

"Feel what?" Shaking her head, the brunette waved off the question. If the other woman hadn't felt it, it was probably just her imagination. Still, she couldn't help but feel as though someone was in a lot of pain at that moment. The medic-nin gave the jounin another curious glance before returning to her clipboard. "Didn't you say you'd be bringing the father along for your first checkup?" the woman asked, still scribbling away on the small stack of paper. A noticeably angry look appeared on Tenten's face.

"Did I say something like that? Hm, no, I think you were just hearing things. There's no way I'd want that jackass here." An understanding look appeared on Shizune's face.

"Have a fight?" The girl grunted and crossed her arms.

"He didn't even give me the chance to ask him about it. It's his loss." The woman smiled amusedly and unclipped the top sheet of paper.

"Well, since he won't be joining us, why don't we get started?" When Tenten nodded, Shizune cleared her throat and began to ask a series of questions. First, she asked the basic questions; Serious illnesses she'd had, vaccinations, and previous surgeries. Then she began to ask about her menstrual and reproductive history. Satisfied with the answers, she motioned for the jounin to stand up.

"Is that all?" the brunette asked, eyebrows raising slightly. The medic-nin almost laughed at the question, but just barely managed to maintain her professionalism.

"Oh, no; we still have a little more to do before you can go hime." Tenten groaned loudly. That was the answer she'd been dreading the most. "For starters, we'll check your weight and blood pressure. After that, we'll continue with a pelvic examination to confirm the pregnancy and a urine test for sugar, protein, and bacteria."

"P-pelvic exam?!"

"Yes; just to make sure that you don't have a urinary tract infection. It's fairly common during pregnancy." The girl's face noticeably reddened. She hadn't thought about it that morning, but perhaps taking a shower would have been a good idea. After all, she and Naruto had gone at least five rounds the night before; six if she counted the time after he passed out.

"A-actually, can I, uh, clean up first? I don't want...anything inside of me to mess with the results." Shizune tilted her head, a confused expression marring her normally soft features.

"Something inside of you? I don't underst--" Suddenly, a light blush appeared on the woman's face. She coughed lightly into her fist, making an extremely onerous effort not to break out into a fit of choking and sputtering. "Oh. I see. Well, not to worry; a thing like...that won't effect the outcome of these tests. However, in the future, it might be best if you shower the morning of your appointments."

To say she felt like dying would be an understatement. Although Shizune was certainly trying her best not to make her feel uncomfortable, the effort painfully failed. What she was feeling at that moment couldn't even be put into words; if she had to try, it could be described as a mixture between embarrassment, pain, and the extremely persistent urge to wring a certain blond's neck.

Nevermind the fact that it had been her idea in the first place.

grinning awkwardly, Tenten quickly headed towards the office bathroom.

"Then, if you'll excuse me..." As if snapping out of a daze, the medic-nin jumped slightly and whirled around in her office chair, shooting the younger girl a shaky smile.

"Oh, o-of course! T-take your time!" The jounin nodded and stepped into the small room, her blush now covering her body. Despite being terribly embarrassed and flustered, something told her that her horrible day was only beginning. It was normal for the Demon Lord to fuck with her from sun up to sundown, and the bastard rarely stopped his torment in mid-afternoon.

Sighing deeply, Tenten swiftly set about her task, grabbing some paper towels from the nearby dispenser. Maybe if she was lucky, she could get out of this with at least an ounce of her pride intact.

-------------------------------

To her pleasant surprise, the trip home from the hospital had been relatively uneventful. Except for a couple of mutts who obviously didn't know about her reputation as being demonically ruthless towards four legged creatures (Akamaru excluded), nothing out of the ordinary had happened. Maybe things would be all right after all!

With that thought in mind, she trudged up the stairs to her apartment with a small, content smile on her face. As she got closer to her small one bedroom home, the smell of something delicious reached her nostrils. Taking a deeper whiff, she easily recognized the rich scent of homemade miso soup, along with another tasty-smelling dish she couldn't quite place her finger on.

Against her will, the smile on her face widened as she realized what was going on. Naruto, that lovable idiot, was cooking her dinner as an apology for that morning! Of course, she was to blame just as much as he was, so it didn't feel quite right for him to do all of the work. As a show of her own atonement, she decided to help him cook; it was the least she could do considering how mean she'd been towards him lately. She reached her door in record speed, placing the key in the lock and opening it with practiced ease.

"I'm back!" she called, mostly in the direction of the kitchen. Her eyebrows arched slightly when she saw that Naruto, instead of being in the kitchen, was sitting wantonly on her couch watching some cartoon about sword fighting. The blond in question looked up and smiled at her through swollen cheeks.

"Whelcum bach, Tenten!" he slurred in obvious pain. Put off by his appearance, she quickly rushed to his side, placing her palms on his bruised face in concern. It looked like he'd been decently patched up already if the bandages covering his face were any indication, so she wasn't too worried.

"Are you alright? What happened?!" The boy awkwardly scratched the back of his head, shooting her the best grin he could through his beat up face.

"Whell, Bah-chan khinda fhiggered out da pwegnency ding, so..." Tenten's expression immediately turned into one of understanding. Only Tsunade-sama with her ridiculous strength could put such injuries on a sturdy guy like Naruto. Her face dropped into a frown as she studied his appearance.

"You shouldn't be cooking with these injuries! Don't you know the hot air from the food will only irritate your bruises?!" He cocked his head to the side in confusion, shooting her the clueless look she was quickly becoming used to.

"Hah? I'm naht cuchkin'." Tenten stared hard at the blond, eyebrows furrowed in worry. Perhaps the Hokage had given him one too many hits to the head. Noticing her disbelieving stare, Naruto pointed towards the kitchen.

"No, wealleh, look!" Still unconvinced, the girl slowly straightened up and began to head towards the kitchen, glancing back at the jounin every few seconds to gage his expression. Unfortunately, he looked completely serious, so she fully turned around and walked into the half-enclosed room.

To her surprise, a smaller girl stood in front of the stove, humming lightly to herself as she stirred the contents of the pot in front of her. She wasn't wearing much more than a tanktop and shorts, and a long apron was tied over that. Her long dark hair easily reached the small of her back, and suddenly realizing who the girl was, Tenten felt her eyes go wide with fear. As if sensing her surprise, the girl turned turned around with a glistening smile, her light violet eyes staring at Tenten with a cheerful expression.

"Welcome home, Tenten-chan."


	6. Chapter 6

**Illegitimate Love**

**Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto.**

**Chapter 6**

"H-Hinata?! Why are you here?!" she shrieked, feeling her heart beat vividly against her ribcage. It had been just over a day since their last encounter, and the fact that the smaller girl had tried to _kill her_ was still fresh on her mind. She subtly reached for a kunai, just in case the Hyuuga was here to finish the job. Her hand paused when she saw the remorseful look that appeared on Hinata's face.

"I'm here to...apologize. The things I said to you were cruel and out of line. I...I don't know what came over me." An uneasy smile flickered across Tenten's face. 'Cruel' and 'out of line' didn't even begin to describe Hinata's words; more like 'violent' and 'psychopathic.'

She didn't quite know how she felt about having the girl in her house; cooking, no less. Her entire mind and body was screaming for her to kick Hinata out, but she knew how hard it must have been for the younger girl to approach her so soon after the incident. It was hard _not_ to accept the apology. She forced a smile onto her face and shrugged.

"It's okay; it was mostly my fault in the first place." The Hyuuga's face lit up again, and she embraced her senior in a tight hug.

"Thank you, Tenten-chan! To make it up to you, I'll stay here to help you and Naruto-kun with the pregnancy!" Tenten blinked.

"...Wait, what?!" Her smile widening, Hinata let go of the jounin and turned back to the stove.

"Well, you two can't manage on your own, right? Just leave everything to me! Go ahead and relax, dinner will be ready in a few minutes." Tenten could only look at the girl's back in a mild state of detachment. Was she fucking serious?! Did she really think she'd be allowed to live her after what she'd said and done?! Despite her thoughts, she dumbly nodded her head and turned around to go back to the living room.

Two days ago, the thought of the younger girl helping her out would've seemed like a terrific idea. Hinata could do everything; cook, clean, and even take care of children. She was perfect in every way -- unlike herself. Though she hated to admit it, Tenten couldn't really cook, clean, or manage children. In fact, one could go as far as to say that she despised the little bastards. Having her around would be the equivalent of hiring a nanny slash maid for free.

However, she just couldn't forget the murderous violet eyes of the Hyuuga as she attempted to stop her heart. Every time she closed her eyes for more than a second, she'd envision a fiercely glowing palm heading straight towards her face. Even now her heart was still thumping from their short conversation.

It usually wasn't her style, but she'd have to think of a way to subtly get rid of Hinata. Something about this whole set up didn't add up no matter how many times she counted. Shaking her head, she let loose a small breath of air and continued over towards Naruto.

"Hinata's going to be staying here to help us out," she murmured, plopping down on the couch next to Naruto. She couldn't say what she wanted to; that she really didn't want the blue-haired girl living under the same roof along with her. Glancing over at him, she barely noticed that most of the swelling in his face had gone down -- probably thanks to the Kyuubi.

"Really? Guess that means I can go home now." She slowly nodded her head and sighed, an action which wasn't missed by the blond. He lifted his eyebrows in mild surprise. It'd been his original plan to hightail it out of there as soon as he could, but his goddamn sense of morality and kindness had utterly stomped that idea into the ground. "Unless...you don't want me to?"

"No! I mean, you can go if you want to. I don't particularly care either way," she said, her cheeks reddening in embarrassment. He studied her profile for a few seconds in silent thought. It was almost impossible to tell what was on her mind, so he said the first thing that came to his.

"Then...I guess I'll stay." The brief smile that flickered across her face told him all he needed to know. "Oh, by the way, Baa-chan is going to let me try out for the ANBU, so I should be able to scrape together enough money to help you with your rent until you have the baby. There's no way you can live on that tiny check you get while on maternity leave." Tenten's face reddened further, and she lowered her eyes to her lap. It was a bit awkward to bring up the subject while they were still on uncertain terms, but she'd never been one to let something that small stand in the way of what she wanted.

"Actually...I've been meaning to talk to you about that. Don't you think it's kind of stupid for you to keep paying rent for a place you're not even going to be in most of the time?" Naruto furrowed his brows, tilting his head in curiosity.

"Are you saying I should move in here with you?" She slowly shook her head, nervously cracking her fingers with her thumbs.

"This place is too small for both of us to live in, and once the baby gets here, it'll seem even smaller. I was thinking that...maybe...we could find a new, bigger place? It's bound to be cheaper than paying for two separate apartments. Maybe we could even buy a house; it'd save us loads of money in the long run as we'd only have to pay for property taxes, utilities, and the mortgage if need be." The blond stared at her with a blank expression.

It wasn't that he was against the idea; he had to admit that what she'd said made a lot of sense, as he really only went home to pick up either a change of clothes or extra weapons for missions. However, something about them moving in together implied that they were a couple, and buying a house together made it seem like they were _married. _He felt a brief shudder go through him at the thought. He didn't even want to_ think _about that possibility unless it was with Sakura.

Naruto crossed his arms under his chest, his frown deepening as he tossed the idea around in his head. Besides that one point, he really couldn't come up with any good arguments against it. Tenten had proven to be a decent roommate over the last few weeks (barring what happened the night before), and it _was_ pretty nice having someone waiting for him when he got home. Not to mention he had to think about what was best for their child -- he didn't want his kid to be constrained to a small place all the time like_ he_ was when he was younger.

"How much do you have saved?" he asked, giving in after a few minutes of silence. He almost laughed when the girl's face literally seemed to light up, and she leaned towards him with barely contained excitement.

He didn't know it, but it had always been her dream to own a home; preferably one with two stories, surrounded by trees, and a field large enough for her to practice even her most devastating jutsus. She'd love to be able to simply walk outside her back door when she felt like training rather than having to walk or run nearly five miles to the nearest training grounds.

"Almost 3,000,000 yen; maybe 100,000 yen more if I can get my safety deposit back on this apartment. What about you?" The blond smiled sheepishly, scratching the back of his head as he did so.

"Only around 2,000,000. But I'll be making loads of money once I start doing ANBU missions!" Tenten frowned slightly, but nodded.

"That means we have 5,000,000 yen altogether. A good home would probably be around 12,500,000, so we'll have to take out a loan for at least 7,500,000. Paid over 30 years and counting in a six percent interest rate, we'd be paying around 35,000 a month including the current rate of property taxes. An awesome deal compared to what we're paying now!" Naruto looked at her dumbly. She'd calculated all that in her head?! Noticing his dumbfounded stare, she shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly. "What? Being a weapon's specialist requires that I be really fuckin' good at math."

"I noticed. You seem to have thought about this before." Tenten blushed lightly and shrugged again. The truth was, she'd been thinking about it ever since she entered the Academy. "Well, if you don't mind having me for a roommate, I'm all for it." The brunette's eyes widened, and shortly after, she launched herself head first at Naruto.

"Thank you! Thank you thank you thank you thank you!" she yelled, wrapping her arms around his neck. The blond playfully returned the hug, chuckling lightly at her exuberance. This was the first time he'd ever seen her get so excited over anything. It was a highly refreshing change from the mellow, bossy Tenten he'd become used to over the past couple of months.

She pulled back a little and stared into his eyes, a wide smile still stretched across her face. The amused, innocent look he regarded her with was positively endearing. She really felt like kissing him at that moment, and the only thing stopping her was the fact that she was a bit unsure as to how he would react.

As annoying as it was, the blond still seemed to be fixated on Sakura if his unnecessary outburst that morning was any indication. She honestly couldn't understand why; the pink haired kunoichi really wasn't all that pretty, and could be quite catty over the most trivial of things. Of course, she considered the girl a friend, but her fangirl mentality and gossiping nature made her impossible to be around for more than a few hours.

She wasn't trying to brag, but she was much better than Sakura in more ways than one. She was prettier, her breasts were bigger (Not that it was hard to beat her in that department), she didn't have any past loves that could potentially ruin their relationship, and she actually had a small interest in making things between them work. Tenten's mouth tugged downwards.

Why was she agonizing over the idea? It was just a small peck on the lips to show her appreciation. If he freaked out over a small smooch between friends it wouldn't be her fault at all. Confident in her reasoning, she lowered her lips towards his. A soft cough quickly interrupted her plans, and she slowly lifted her eyes to see Hinata looking at them with a blank stare. In her excitement, she'd completely forgotten the young girl was still there.

"Dinner's ready," Hinata said, her voice oddly neutral. Naruto wasted no time in hopping up and heading towards the bathroom, inadvertently throwing the weapon's mistress back onto the couch.

"Alright! I'm _starving_!" As she watched him go, Tenten marveled over the fact that he hadn't been able to sense the mildly tense atmosphere that had developed in the room. Or, maybe he had and was simply avoiding it. Either way, she was highly annoyed that he had practically abandoned her. Surprisingly, Hinata just smiled gently and turned back towards the kitchen, removing her apron as she did so.

"You should wash up too, Tenten-chan. We wouldn't want the food to get cold!"

"Oh...right." She stood to her feet and headed in the same direction Naruto had gone, her heart beating wildly the entire time. After quickly washing her hands and face, she returned to the small dining area of her living room. The other two people in her apartment were already chatting amiably about some jutsu or another, but she was more concerned about the food sitting in the middle of the table.

Of course, she didn't actually believe that Hinata would try to poison her; at least not so obviously. No, she'd be much more subtle with it -- most likely at a time or place where it'd be tough for anyone to connect her to the murder. A small smirk appeared on Tenten's face. that was impossible. The Hyuuga was a lot of things, but she wasn't the type to consciously murder someone over something so small.

At least, that's what she hoped.

"Hey, Tenten, it's about time you finished! Hinata-chan's being mean and won't let me start without you!"

"Of course not! It's bad manners to start eating before everyone arrives at the table." Naruto pouted and glared pointedly at Hinata, narrowing his eyes in defiance.

"That's stupid! What if you die from hunger while waiting?!" The blue-haired girl narrowed her eyes into smaller slits than he could ever hope to achieve and crossed her arms under her chest.

"I've never heard of it happening before, so until it does, the rule stands." The blond mumbled something incomprehensible under his breath, childishly turning his head away from her. A sharp punch in the shoulder caused Naruto to yelp in pain, and he stared accusingly at the still scowling girl at his side.

"Ow! I think I felt some chakra in that punch! Tenten, Hinata-chan's picking on me!" Tenten rolled her eyes and sighed, seating herself on his other side. She expected Naruto to act like a child, but seeing her former best friend being pulled into his shenanigans amused her to no end.

"Okay, okay, that's enough. I haven't eaten all day, so let's start, shall we?" The boy to her right grumbled lightly but agreed, enticed by the prospect of finally being able to eat. Together, the three of them placed their hands together and closed their eyes.

"Itadikimasu!"

Tenten sighed as she stared into the full length mirror hanging on her door. It'd been nearly a month since Hinata had begun to live with her and Naruto in her tiny apartment, and during that time, her belly had grown exponentially; to her, anyway. No matter how many times she showed him, the blond only shrugged and claimed that it looked just as flat as ever.

Not that he was ever really paying attention -- after all, he spent the majority of his time training and reading the ANBU handbook he'd been given by the Hokage. She'd been extremely surprised to see that he was actually able to take something other than ramen seriously. He would leave her apartment at around six in the morning and wouldn't return until seven that night, leaving her no choice but to chat with the psychotic bitch in the next room.

Shaking her head, the jounin quickly cast that thought from her mind. It really wasn't fair to Hinata to keep calling her crazy, even if it was inside of her own mind. The smaller girl had been doing her best to help out around the small living space, doing most -- if not all -- of the chores by herself. So far, she hadn't made any attempts to sneak into her room at night or poison her tea with cyanide. Perhaps she was overreacting a bit.

Still, she just couldn't shake the image of Hinata's murderous violet eyes as she attempted to take her life, nor the horrendous string of curses that had spewed from her mouth. It was possible that she'd never get over it. The soft thud of someone landing outside of her apartment snapped her from her thoughts, and a small smile appeared on her face. At least Naruto was still here. Even if the Hyuuga was plotting something, she couldn't do anything as long as he was still around. With that thought in mind, she opened the door and headed into the living room to greet the father of her baby.

Unfortunately, someone had already beat her there. She watched annoyed as Hinata said something that caused the blond to laugh before leading him to the kitchen. It had been happening more and more lately, and to be honest, it was starting to piss her off. She liked it better when _she_ was the first one to greet him and ask how his day was, not Hinata. Striding purposefully out of her bedroom, she made a beeline towards the small room the other two had just entered.

"Hey, Naruto, glad your home. I need your help with something." Both of the teens turned from the stove to stare at her; Naruto in curiosity, and Hinata with what looked like annoyance. Just as quickly as it had come, the look disappeared, leaving Tenten wondering if she had seen correctly in the first place.

"Sure, but can it wait for a little while? Hinata-chan made ramen for dinner!" The brunette narrowed her eyes, instantly putting the blond on edge. He'd seen that look before hundreds of times on the Hokage and her apprentice, and more often than not, it meant that someone was about to get fucked up. He chuckled nervously and took a step towards the glaring girl, idly wondering where the hell she had picked that particular technique up.

"Sorry, Hinata-chan, I'll be back as soon as I finish helping Tenten." The weapon's mistress almost felt like smirking smugly at the smaller girl but managed to hold it in for the time being. Even if she'd had to resort to 'that' move, she was glad to have finally beat the younger Hyuuga in something.

A couple of weeks earlier, the Hokage herself had called her into her office. While she'd been excited to be visiting with her mentor for something other than missions, she'd also been more than a little nervous as to why the woman had suddenly taken an interest in her. It was no secret to anyone that Tsunade viewed Naruto as a little brother, and though she hoped against hope that it was for something other than the baby, she knew that was exactly why the Hokage wanted to see her.

Despite her nervousness, the meeting had gone rather well -- after the first ten or so minutes, anyway. She'd received the chewing out of her life from the buxom blond, and she cringed even now when she thought about. Never in her life had she ever received such severe admonishment from anyone, and it was quite the humbling experience as she'd found out. Thankfully, the woman had only given her a hard (skull crushing) bop on top of the head, claiming that she'd given Naruto enough of a beating for both of them.

After that, however, things went rather well. She'd been able to fulfill her lifelong dream of sitting down to tea with the slug sannin, and had received numerous pieces of advice on how to handle Naruto (The most useful being 'the glare'). Tsunade had also offered to help them find a place to live since she was among the first to receive the latest real estate listings. At the end of their meeting, she'd almost fainted when the Hokage had enveloped her in a hug and told her that she was like a sister-in-law.

"So? What'd you need help with?" Naruto asked, following her into the room. Tenten pulled a large manilla envelope out of her top drawer and handed it to him.

"Hokage-sama gave us a list of all the current houses available on the market. Since we're both buying the house, we should pick the ones we want to look at together." When he regarded her with an incredulous stare, the brunette crossed her arms and looked away. "What?"

She felt his eyes bore into the side of her head, almost as if they were trying to see directly into her mind. The method she'd used to pull him away had been too obvious. Even someone as dense as Naruto would realize that there was something more going on. After a couple of seconds of silent observation, the ANBU sighed lightly and scratched at the back of his head.

"Well...it's just that this could've waited for an hour or two. We have plenty of time to find a place, after all. I promise I'll look at them with you when I'm done eating, okay?" Although she was relieved that he didn't ask what was wrong, she also didn't want him to leave. She watched his orange and black clad back as he left the room, feeling more uneasy with each step he took. For some reason, it felt as if he was going off to a battle that he'd never return from. Her panic rising, Tenten threw herself at his back and wrapped her arms around his waist, feeling him stiffen in her embrace.

"You'll come right back, right?" she mumbled, her voice becoming lost in the thick material of his jacket. It hadn't really occurred to her before now, but Naruto was pretty big. He easily towered over her own small frame, and now that she thought about it, she'd always had to look up at him when they spoke. The more time she spent around him, the less she saw the annoying twelve year old brat she'd met over six years ago.

"Of course. I made a promise, didn't I? And you should know by now that I never go back on my word." Tenten smiled lightly at his words. Even if he'd grown both mentally and physically, that was one thing that'd never changed. She slowly released the boy from her grip, allowing him to continue on towards the kitchen. What the hell was she worried about? Naruto wouldn't desert her. He'd never been that way.

"You're done already, Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked, turing away from the stove. The blond grinned widely and plopped down at the table.

"Yep! Turns out it was something that could wait for awhile. I'm gonna help her when I'm done eating." A strange look passed over the girl's face, causing Naruto's eyebrows to furrow slightly.

"I see." She placed a large bowl of ramen in front of him before seating herself down next to him with her own. "Tenten's a bit impatient, isn't she?" He cocked his head in thought, using his chopsticks to slurp up a mouthful of the noodles.

"What do you mean?" The Hyuuga too swallowed a serving of the ramen, using her hand to lightly wipe at her mouth before speaking.

"Well, she can be a little bossy sometimes. Don't you think it's hard to be around her for a long time?" Naruto shrugged his shoulders, continuing to shovel the soup down his throat.

"I guess so, but she can also be really nice." He subtly watched for Hinata's reaction as he ate, looking at her from the corner of his eye. There was something going on that he wasn't getting. He'd first noticed this on the night that Hinata had arrived to stay with them.

It had been his assumption that the smaller girl would share the bedroom with Tenten while he continued to sleep out on the couch. However, he'd been extremely surprised when the brunette expressed discomfort with idea, claiming that she wasn't able to sleep well with someone else in the room. He found it strange considering how well she'd slept both times after they'd had sex, and he was sleeping in the same bed with her.

Not that he minded sharing the living room with Hinata; although he was a bit sad about having to give up the couch in favor of the hardwood floor, it was fun talking with her about random things before going to bed. She was often able to offer him advice when he was working on a new jutsu, and she even gave him tips she'd learned from her cousin about making his transition into the ANBU easier.

So that's why he couldn't for the life of him figure out what was going on between the two women. Sighing softly, he decided that he should probably take Ero-sennin's advice in this situation; '_If it doesn't involve you, don't get involved._' The quiet voice of the girl next to him snapped him out of his thoughts, and he blinked a few times before turning to look at her.

"Sorry, what did you say? I missed it." Hinata lowered her head and placed her fingers together, subconsciously getting back into her old habit.

"I said...I-I don't think you should move in together with Tenten." Naruto's eyebrows arched, but before he could speak, she continued. "Like I said, she can be really insensitive sometimes. It's alright now because I'm here, but once I go back home, things will only get worse. You'll have to do everything by yourself, and she'll probably force you into doing things that you don't want to do. I'm telling you this for your own good, Naruto-kun." The blond stared at her in shock. This was easily the last thing he would have expected her to say, and it also reinforced his belief that there was something going on between the two females. He sighed loudly and leaned back from the table, loosely resting his hands behind his head.

What she'd said certainly had some merit; he wasn't sure if she knew it or not, but Tenten had already forced him into doing things that he didn't want to do. He couldn't argue that she could be insensitive, and there was a possibility that she was only acting civil because Hinata was around. Perhaps she was right in that it would be a bad move to live with the girl.

A sudden image of Tenten's excited face appeared in his mind, instantly stopping his thought process in its tracks. He remembered how happy she had looked when he agreed to buy a house with her, and how hard she was working to find them the perfect one. He'd feel really bad about denying her after he'd already promised that he would, and he also never went back on his word if he could help it. Grinning slightly, he looked over at the expectantly staring Hyuuga.

"Sorry, Hinata-chan, but I already promised her I'd do it -- and you know my nindo." He thought he saw anger pass over her face for a second, but when he looked again, there was a small, neutral smile on her face. She stood up from the table and grabbed her bowl, walking towards the sink with the porcelain dish.

"It's okay; I shouldn't have said something so unreasonable in the first place. I'm sure things will work out somehow." Naruto grinned wider and nodded. He gripped the bowl in both hands and downed the last of the broth, letting loose a content sigh as he set it back down.

"Thanks for the meal! It was great!" When she smiled and nodded, the blond stood from the table and began to walk out of the small dining area. "I'm gonna go help Tenten now, okay?" With that, he stretched and strode back towards the brunette's room. The door was closed, so he knocked lightly on the wooden surface and waited for an answer.

"Who is it?" Tenten asked from inside.

"It's me, I'm done eating." The girl opened the door and smiled up at him, motioning for him to enter ahead of her. The feel of someone staring at her grabbed her attention, and lifting her head towards the kitchen, she saw Hinata staring at her. It wasn't malicious like she'd expected it to be; instead, it looked like envy. She smiled lightly at the Hyuuga in what she hoped was a friendly manner and was pleased to see her former friend return the grin. Perhaps things could work out between them after all.

Her smile widening a bit, she closed the door and turned to address Naruto, completely missing the sad frown that appeared on Hinata's face soon after.

**AN: FAAAAAWLKKIIIIN PAAAAAAWNCH! **


	7. Chapter 7

**Illegitimate Love**

**Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto.**

**AN:** _The site's being an asshole about my usual scene change method, so for the time being, scene changes will be_ **'ooooooooooooooooo'**

**Chapter 7  
**

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

Thirty shadow clones popped into existence, surrounding the group of rock shinobi on all sides. Each of the clones was wearing matching ANBU garb, and each of them had a blank white mask covering their faces. One of the surrounded shinobi cursed and drew a kunai, shivering as he held it out in front of him.

"Do you think a parlor trick like that will fool me?!" he yelled, eyes scanning the trees for the real one. "There's no way any shinobi can make this many shadow clones, even if they are ANBU!" All of the clones laughed as one, putting the man on edge even more. "What are you laughing at?!" Finally, the 'real' ANBU officer dropped down from the trees and casually crossed his arms under his chest.

"Well, for one, you think that all of these clones aren't real. Take a look at their feet." The enemy ninja's eyes widened as he realized that every single one of the 'illusions' had shadows -- one of the sure ways to tell a bunshin from a real person. His shaking grew more pronounced when he came to the painful conclusion that he and his teammates were royally fucked. "Two, I find it more than a little amusing that you haven't noticed the fact that you're the only one still alive." True to his words, the other five men in his team had been pierced through the forehead with a well placed knife and were laid neatly in a row behind him. Staring at them in horror, the man turned towards the real officer with rage, rushing towards him with the intent to kill.

"You...you bastard! I'll kill--" He never got to finish his sentence as a lone kunai whizzed through the air and sunk directly into his frontal lobe, instantly killing him. Apparently, he hadn't sensed the _real_ ANBU officer waiting in the treetops for a chance to strike. No sooner had he hit the ground did three more ANBU officers appear in the small clearing, all of them sporting different animal masks. They got to work inspecting the bodies to make sure that they were all indeed dead, and nodding amongst themselves, stood up to face the nervously shuffling trainee. After a few tense seconds, the leader of the troupe stepped forward and handed the man a red and white fox painted mask.

"Congratulations, newbie. A bit excessive with the thirty shadow clones, but you pass," she said, shaking his hand as he accepted the guise. The new ANBU officer jumped for joy, instantly breaking the serious atmosphere that had developed amongst them. When he finally calmed down enough to stand still, the other two men in the squad stepped forward and too shook his hand, patting him on the back in congratulations.

"So, what're your plans for tonight? You _are_ celebrating, aren't you?" the leader of the group asked, crossing her arms over her chest. The blond shrugged his shoulders, dispelling his shadow clones with a simple thought. He hadn't really thought much about what he'd do if he managed to pass the exam, and as such, found that he had trouble coming up with something. The woman sighed and threw an arm around his shoulders, shaking her head in exasperation at his lack of forethought.

"C'mon, kid! You're an ANBU officer now! Surely you have _something_ in mind." When he shrugged his shoulders sheepishly, she sighed louder and turned to the other two shinobi, placing a lazy hand on her hip as she did so. "Tell you what; how about we all throw you a little party to commemorate this event? We can go to a few clubs, get a few drinks, screw a few chicks -- you know, the good stuff. You guys are okay with it, right?" The two men exchanged what he assumed to be wary glances, but nodded anyway. "Great! We'll head back to HQ for a shower and a change of clothes before going straight to the clubs. Away, troops!" With that, the woman disappeared into the treetops, sprinting full speed towards the village.

Left alone in the clearing, the blond turned to stare at the remaining ANBU officers in disbelief.

"Is she always like that?" he asked, disbelief apparent on his face. They shrugged and spoke simultaneously, almost as if they were used to answering this question.

"You'll get used to it."

**ooooooooooooooooooooo**

Naruto glanced at his watch for the fifth time in ten minutes. Shortly after getting back to the ANBU headquarters, his squad leader had given he and his team the instructions to 'Be ready at seven or die.' Amazingly enough, the woman herself had yet to show up. Fed up, he turned to the two men leaning against the wall next to him, both of them clad in casual jeans and long-sleeved dress shirts just like he was.

"Is she always like --"

"Yes." He blinked lightly at the automatic and simultaneous answer. They were starting to creep him out with the whole speaking at the same time thing.

"This isn't fair, though! She told us to be here at exactly seven, yet she's not here herself! Don't you guys think this is sort of _wrong_?!" As he spoke, he completely missed the subtle motions of the two men in front of him -- if you could call obvious shushing and pointing subtle, anyway. Naruto stiffened as he felt a pair of arms wrap around his neck, and little Naruto stiffened as he felt a pair of barely contained breasts press against his back. Something wet rolled over his cheek, and despite his best efforts to hold it in, a brief shudder went throughout his body.

"Mmmm, I love the taste of fear," the woman moaned, purposefully tightening her arms around his neck. The blond gulped in surprise. He hadn't even sensed her coming up behind him! Despite her playful nature, he really had to remember that she was still an armed and deadly shinobi who knew one hundred ways to kill a man with only her pinky finger.

"Ah...hahaha! I was just saying how great it was to have you as a squad leader, and how thankful I was that you were taking me out tonight!" He winced slightly as she bit down on his earlobe, using her teeth to pull at the squishy flesh. She gently ground her hips against him and put her mouth directly next to his ear.

"Nice try, newbie. I'm gonna have to punish you for lying later." To his obvious relief, she let him go and began to walk towards the double doors leading out of the compound, motioning for the others in her squad to follow. "Come on, boys, time to party!" Naruto started to follow, but the woman turned around and held out a hand, causing him to stop in his tracks. "Not you, blondie. Your wifey's here to pick you up." He followed her line of sight to see Tenten looking at him from the front desk. When she saw that he'd noticed her, she lifted her hand to wave at him, her smile hesitant and unsure.

"Tenten?! When did you get here?!" he asked, surprise evident in his voice. Rather than wait for the girl's answer, his troupe leader stepped in to answer for her.

"She's been here for awhile; apparently, she was waiting for you so that you two could celebrate together. I was talking to her for a little while just now -- hence the reason I was late." She sighed dramatically and pouted. "It's a shame, really. Oh, _the things I would have done to you_...anyway! We're off! Later, Naruto-kun! Remember to wrap it before you slap it! Or something like that." The irony of her warning wasn't lost on neither him nor Tenten. Shaking his head, he walked over to to the brunette with a grin.

He hadn't noticed it at first, but Tenten looked absolutely stunning. She was wearing a simple, strapless, black two-teir dress, perfectly hiding her slightly bulging stomach. Her hair hung loosely at her shoulder blades to give her a more mature appearance, and a small bit of make up adorned her face. He dropped his gaze to her legs, staring at the exposed skin greedily. The dress stopped at just above her knees, subtley enticing him without throwing her sexuality in his face.

"You look...incredible," he breathed, eyes raising to meet hers. She blushed prettily and turned away, self-consciously pulling at the hem of her dress. To be honest, she wasn't used to wearing things like this. She was much more comfortable in a simple pair of pants and a shirt, and her shoulders felt naked without something covering them. Plus, she wasn't a big fan of the leering stares and whistles she got from males as she passed by. That was probably the biggest reason. Somehow, though, those three little words he'd uttered had made everything worth it. She cleared her throat noisily, still avoiding eye contact.

"T-thanks."

"I'm serious! If I'd known you were out here waiting for me in _that_, I'd have been out here hours ago! Well, I guess that's not really possible since we just got back at six, but...wow." By now, her face was red enough to rival even the ripest of tomatoes. She didn't know if he was doing it on purpose, but his words were flattering her to no end. She clenched her fist to get a grip on herself before turning her head back around to face him.

"W-we should get going soon. I made reservations for seven thirty at a restaurant not too far from here," she murmured, using all of her willpower not to fuss with her dress anymore than she already had. He nodded and motioned for her to walk in front of him.

"Lead the way, gorgeous." She pouted lightly and glared up at him, crossing her arms as they walked towards the front doors of the building.

"Stop that!"

"Stop what?"

"Flattering me when you don't really mean it!" Naruto raised his eyebrows in mild surprise. He hadn't expected her to say that of all things.

"But I do mean it! I wouldn't say it if I didn't." She stared up at him, closely watching him for any sign of deceit. When she couldn't find any, she softened her eyes and averted her gaze. She hated how easy it was for him to come off as innocent, but at the same time, she liked that innocence. It made her feel like she could be herself around him than anyone else. Smiling minutely, she turned her eyes forward and continued walking.

They managed to reach the restaurant with nearly ten minutes to spare and were seated almost as soon as they'd arrived. To Naruto, the restaurant looked extremely high class. The tables looked like they were made from the finest wood, and there were dozens of plants adorning the large dining room. It was split off into twelve sections, and there were two four-seat tables in each one, giving them an adequate amount of privacy from everyone else. The dimmed lights set an almost romantic mood, and three plain scented candles were placed in the middle of the table for extra light. All in all, it was easily the best place he'd ever been to.

"Are you sure we can afford this?" he asked, staring around at all of the new and different things inside the building. Tenten stared at him as if he'd grown another head.

"What are you talking about? Of course we can! This is well within our price range." She idly wondered when they began saying things like 'we' and 'our.' "By the way, you're only allowed one bowl of ramen tonight."

"What?! Why?!"

"Because if I don't do that, you won't eat anything else. I want you to taste some real food for a change." The blond pouted but agreed, grudgingly opening the menu to take a look inside. The brunette smirked at her shallow victory and did the same, only half looking since she'd been here many times before. A waiter approached their table with a notepad, and small towel hanging over his tuxedo-clad arm, a regal and professional smile stretched across his face.

"Are you ready to order?" he asked, setting down the glasses of water. Tenten immediately nodded and began to spout off the things she wanted.

"I'll start off with a small caesar salad, miso soup, a plate of salmon sashimi, and a plate of soba. Also, some sake would be nice." The man nodded and wrote her order down before turning to the young man intensely reading the menu.

"And you, sir?"

"Uh...I'll have everything she's having? Plus a bowl of ramen!" The waiter gave him a funny look but wrote his order down regardless. He then bowed and walked away from the table, presumably to relay their requests to the chef.

"This must be your first time eating at one of these places," she remarked, smirking slightly in mirth. His face immediately became a little sad as he shrugged and smiled sheepishly.

"Yeah...when I tried to go to these kinds of places before, I usually wasn't very welcome." Her eyes widening slightly, she placed her and over his and gripped it lightly, drawing his eyes to her own. She'd always had the bad habit of saying the wrong things at the wrong times, and this situation was no exception.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like that."

"What are you apologizing for? It's not like it was your fault or anything. In fact, I'm really happy that you brought me here! Now I can smile smugly at any guy that happens to walk by, knowing that he wishes he could eat dinner with a beautiful girl." In Naruto's mind, his comment was perfectly normal. He honestly didn't mean anything by it and was just trying to be polite. Jiraiya had literally drilled into him that it was good etiquette to compliment a lady whenever he could, so it was no surprise that he was shocked by the deep scarlet blush that appeared on the older girl's face. "Tenten? You okay?"

"Y-yeah, you just caught me a little off guard. I swear, if I didn't know any better, I'd say that you were trying to pick me up." She looked at the clueless expression on his face and sighed. "Of course not." A flash of pink caught her attention, and she moved her eyes to look over at the spot above Naruto's shoulder. She felt her jaw drop when she saw that none other than Haruno Sakura, the boy in front of her's love interest, was just entering the restaurant with her boyfriend. Wincing a bit, she reasoned that the chances of this particular situation happening_ had _to be over one in ten thousand.

"What are you looking at?" Naruto asked, turning his head to look. Panicking, she gripped his hand harder, instantly bringing his attention back to her. Maybe if she was lucky, she could distract him long enough for their friends to be seated in another area. The place wasn't that busy, so there was a reasonably good chance that they wouldn't be seated in the same --

"Tenten-chan? Is that you?" Goddammit. God _fucking_ dammit. Why the hell did she even bother? She knew her luck. She knew that both karma _and _the Demon Lord of Fate had it out for her. People like her weren't allowed to hope. Pasting on a fake smile, she lifted her head to look up at the medic-nin.

"Hey, Sakura-chan. What are the chances of meeting you here?" If she sensed her sarcasm, she certainly didn't show it. Instead, she leaned down and wrapped the girl in a quick hug.

"I know, right? Who's your..." Tenten sighed as she realized what was about to come next. "...Naruto?!" the girl shrieked, for the first time noticing the cowering ANBU officer. "You're on a date with _Naruto?!_" The brunette looked over at the blond for a hint as to what to say, unsure which answer he would like best. Unfortunately, he was currently still stuck in a state of shock at being caught red handed with another female in front of his crush. It also didn't help that her hand was currently gripping his in what could be called a romantic way. So, shrugging on the inside, she brightened her smile and looked back up at Sakura.

"Why, yes, I am!" She didn't need to look at Naruto to know that he was currently staring at her with wide eyes. "Naruto-kun just passed his ANBU exam, and I'm taking him out to celebrate. Right?" Her partner slowly nodded his head, expression unchanging during the entire exchange. It honestly surprised her that he hadn't outright denied the lie -- especially given his longstanding crush on the Hokage's apprentice.

"Oh...I see. So you're not on a _date _date. Sasuke-kun, let's sit here! It's okay, isn't it?" she asked, turning to the waiter who was escorting them. The man shrugged his shoulders uncaringly in response; it was obvious that he hadn't been working here for very long.

"Sure. Someone else will be by in a little while to take your orders." He bowed and waltzed off without another word, completely missing the venomous glare and death threats Tenten was mentally sending at his back. She'd been a little insulted by Sakura not calling their date real, and as such, felt a small amount of animosity towards her friend.

"Tenten-chan, you look great! I didn't know you owned a dress like that." The brunette smiled and nodded, pretending to care about the slinky red dress the other kunoichi was wearing.

"You too! I bet you have Sasuke eating out of the palm of your hand with that one!" Both girls shared a laugh, though Tenten's was noticeably much more forced. Although she'd been expecting it, she was a bit surprised when Sakura immediately began shooting questions at the two.

"So, is this your first date?"

"No."

"Really? How many have you had?"

"A few."

"Are you officially together?"

"You could say that."

"For how long?"

"Awhile."

"Why haven't I heard about it until now?"

"Who knows."

"Tenten-chan, your answers are too vague!"

"Are they?" She could literally feel the disappointment pouring off of the Hokage's apprentice, and though she wouldn't admit it if asked, she got a supreme amount of satisfaction from denying the girl her gossip. Luckily, the waiter arrived with their food, and she eagerly turned to the dishes in front of them. She couldn't talk if she was eating, and if she was eating, Sakura couldn't ask anymore questions. As she was reveling in this small victory, she somehow managed to overlook the depression that had settled over the blond.

He picked at his food with obvious disinterest, every now and then glancing at the table to her left. It took a few seconds of watching, but she eventually realized what was bothering him; he was upset seeing his two friends together. Although it was annoying, Naruto still hadn't dropped the torch for his teammate yet. Frowning slightly, she picked up a piece of salmon with her chopsticks and held it out towards him. When he looked at her in confusion, she smiled sultrily and adjusted her body so that he got a clear look at her cleavage.

"Say, 'ah'," she whispered, leaning the food towards him a little more. He dumbly opened his mouth wide enough for her to place the piece of fish inside, instantly forgetting about the two at the next table. It was hard to concentrate on someone else when Tenten was currently permeating through all five of his senses.

For her part, she was satisfied with the wide eyed expression on Sakura's face. If there was any doubt about her relationship with Naruto before (Even if they were all lies), it was wiped away with this latest action.

"Tenten." She returned her attention to Naruto, only to see him offering her a piece of fish too. She blinked in confusion at the action but opened her mouth anyway, smiling at him as she chewed and swallowed the meat. If the other girl was shocked before, then she was positively electrocuted now. Him feeding her practically sealed the lie.

They continued the meal like that, chatting, laughing and every now and then feeding each other pieces of food. It genuinely pleased her that the newly instated ANBU officer had seemingly forgotten all about his teammates at the other table; which was a good thing, since he missed Sakura feeding Sasuke some of her dishes in an attempt to not be outdone.

"What's with your squad leader, anyway? She was all over you!" Tenten exclaimed, pouting and crossing her arms for added effect. Naruto blushed lightly and shrugged, taking a sip of water from his glass.

"The other guys in my team says it's just because I'm new. Even though they also said she didn't do it to them..." Realizing that it wasn't helping in his situation any, he coughed and took another sip of water.

"Do you like that?" He lifted an eyebrow at the question, setting down the cup to look at her. Her face looked genuinely curious, leaving him wondering what it was she was talking about.

"Like what? Water?"

"When she does things like this." Smirking, Tenten stood up and leaned over the table, not so subtly pushing her breasts directly into his face. She leaned her head down until her mouth was right next to his ear, and widening her grin a little, began to suck on it. "Do you like it when a woman takes control?" She got her answer when she glanced down at the tent forming in Naruto's jeans.

Now that she thought about it, it made sense; especially considering what had happened the last time they'd had sex. It seemed as though he liked being dominated, something that sat just fine with her. The sound of someone clearing their throat broke her concentration, and she leaned back far enough to look over at the source.

"Tenten-chan, do you mind going to the bathroom with me?" Although only Naruto heard it, the brunette sucked her teeth and stood all the way up. It was pretty much a golden rule within the girl code that she had to go to the bathroom with another female if asked, so she grabbed her own purse and turned to face Sakura.

"Not at all!" The two women walked side by side towards the restrooms, leaving both of their dates behind. Suddenly aware of exactly what he and Tenten were doing, the blond turned to look over at Sasuke.

"Uh..." he started, not quite sure what to say. Surprisingly, the usually stoic Uchiha grinned and gave him a thumbs up, obviously showing his approval of the situation. Shrugging embarrassedly, Naruto scratched at the back of his head in his usual fashion.

In the bathroom, things weren't going nearly as well as they were with the guys. Sakura touched up her makeup, looking into the mirror to check herself over before speaking.

"So, you two really are dating." A bit put off by the blunt statement, the brunette turned away from the mirror to look at her.

"You didn't believe me before?"

"Well, it's not that, but..."

"You expected Naruto-kun to still be depressed about you and Sasuke getting together, and now you're a little jealous that he got over you so quickly. Is that it?" The pink-haired kunoichi looked absolutely appalled at her words; mostly because she'd hit the nail right on the proverbial head. Not that she could let Tenten know that.

"No! Of course not! I'm glad he's found someone else. It means he can stop chasing after me now." The brunette snorted disbelievingly, looking back at the mirror to continue messing with her makeup. To be honest, she looked perfectly fine as she was; she just wanted something to do while she waited for Sakura to say what she_ really _wanted.

"So..." Sakura started, awkwardly playing with her hands, "...have you two, like...you know." Tenten lightly shrugged her shoulders, not bothering to turn away from the mirror.

"No, I don't know. You have to be more clear if you want an actual answer." She winced a bit as she realized that her words had come out a little harsh -- not that anyone could blame her considering how annoyed she was with the other girl.

"Fine, fine. Have you two done _it?_" The jounin almost felt like laughing at the way she tried to circumnavigate using the word 'sex.' They were all adults here, so she really didn't see the point in mincing words.

"You mean have we fucked?"

"I wouldn't put it so crudely, but yes."

"Of course. Plenty of times." Okay, so she was stretching the truth a bit, but she'd be damned if she let Sakura get the upper hand on her. Besides, it was well worth seeing the shocked look on her face.

"...How was it?" Tenten turned away from the mirror long enough to look at her in disbelief.

"Would I have fucked him plenty of times if he sucked? I don't think there's anyone I'd have rather lost my virginity to than Naruto-kun." That was a lie too. There was a certain lead singer in a certain ninja rock band that she certainly wouldn't have minded sleeping with for her first time. But, as far as people she_ actually knew_ goes, Naruto was easily the best choice.

"I...I see. How, uh, big is it?" At Tenten's incredulous face, she waved her hands in front of her with embarrassment. "Just out of curiosity! Sai's always said it was tiny, so..."

"hold two fists together." Sakura did so, and smiled.

"Oh, that's about aver--" her voice caught in her throat when the weapon's mistress placed her own fist on top of that and seemed to be sizing it up.

"Hm...it's a little bigger, I guess, but this should give you a ballpark estimate." In all actuality, she wasn't lying about this one. She distinctly remembered having to use both of her hands to jack him off a month or so before, and she also remembered how awesome it had felt inside of her. She absentmindedly rubbed her thighs together, an action which didn't go missed by her friend.

For the first time ever, she felt some remorse for turning down Naruto. Sasuke was only about half that size, and she hadn't really enjoyed making love that first night. Magical wasn't what she'd call it at all. It got better with time, but if Naruto was great on the first night...she mentally shook her head, throwing that thought from her mind as quickly as possible before it got out of hand. She had her dream man now, and that was all she needed. There's no way he could ever be better than Sasuke. Probably.

"Not bad, I suppose. Looks like Sai was wrong about Naruto." Tenten snorted lightly, almost as if saying 'that's for sure.'

"Well, if you're done here, I'm going back out to finish my date." As she turned to walk towards the door, she felt a strong hand wrap around her forearm. Surprised, she turned around to look at the other girl. "You had something else to say?"

"Yes; I don't think you should go out with Naruto. At least not yet. I really don't think he's over me, and he's probably just dating you because I'm taken. I'm telling you this as your friend. If Sasuke and I somehow broke up, he'd dump you in a flash. Don't put yourself through that pain." Tenten stared at Sakura in absolute disbelief.

Who the _fuck_ did she think she was to tell her what to do?! After all the pain and torment she'd put her teammate through, did she think she had the right to say who he should and shouldn't date? She clenched her fists at her sides to stem some of her anger. Flying off the handle would just make herself look immature.

"Listen, Sakura. I know you miss having Naruto-kun at your beck and call whenever you want him, and I can't fault you for feeling a bit jealous of our relationship. However, don't try to pass it off as being concerned for our well-being. Naruto-kun and I are doing wonderfully without your 'advice', so you can take your superficial idiotic arrogance and shove it." She wrenched her arm from Sakura's grip and turned on her heel, waltzing out of the bathroom with as much grace as she could muster.

As soon as she reached the dining area, she slowed her pace to a walk. It wouldn't do to show up at the table with an angry face. She closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths, remembering the meditation techniques she'd learned from Neji awhile back. By the time she reached their table, she was completely calm and poised, meeting Naruto's curious stare with a smile.

"Hey, I'm about ready to go. Can you find the waiter so we can pay?" He watched her for a few more seconds before nodding and walking off towards the front of the restaurant. He could tell that something was up, but he could also tell that she didn't want to talk about it. When she was sure that he was out of hearing distance, she plopped down onto her seat with a heavy sigh, reaching into her purse for a mint to get rid of the smell of the food they'd just eaten.

"That must've been some talk," Sasuke said, startling Tenten from her place at the next table. She looked over at him in surprise, almost swallowing the mint she was sucking on. He glared at her with obvious annoyance. "Don't tell me you forgot that I was here."

"Oh! No, no, not at all," she lied. "I was just deep in thought about something." He continued to glare at her disbelievingly, but brushed it off for the time being. It wasn't the first time it had happened.

"Don't take anything Sakura said too seriously. She can be a bit of a self-righteous drama queen sometimes. I find that it's best to ignore her when she's being annoying." The brunette almost felt like laughing, but instead just nodded her head. It seemed as if he understood his girlfriend _perfectly_. Perhaps Sasuke wasn't as bad as she thought.

"Thanks, I'll keep that in mind." The sound of heels clicking against the floorNigh caught her attention, and she turned her head to see the medic-nin returning to her table. Just like she herself had done a few minutes earlier, Sakura pasted on a smile and sat down, trying to act as if nothing had happened. Shortly after, Naruto returned to the table. "Did you get the check?" she asked, standing up and grabbing her purse. She wanted to get out of there as soon as possible. The blond shook his head and grinned.

"Nah, I went ahead and paid it."

"What? No! _I _was treating _you_!"

"Don't worry, I got a huge bonus when I passed the exam. The bill barely scraped the surface of what I received." She pouted for a few seconds but nodded, realizing that she really couldn't argue since it was already paid and done with. She suddenly wrinkled her nose at him and turned her head away.

"Your breath stinks." He glared down playfully at her, crossing his arms for emphasis.

"What do you expect? I just finished eating fish."

"I guess it can't be helped," she sighed, shaking her head. "Here, I'll give you a mint." With that, she grabbed the back of his head and forced his mouth down to hers, molding their lips together in a wet, sloppy kiss. As they made out in the dim lighting, she made it a point to show the transferring of the mint from her mouth to his via tongue, and moaned in surprise when he sucked both the candy and her tongue into his mouth. He was being unusually cooperative tonight.

She honestly hadn't expected him to get so into it; especially in front of his so-called crush. When she felt another part of his anatomy begin to push into her body, she reluctantly decided to stop. He probably wouldn't like having to hide his boner as he walked out of the restaurant. Planting a few more short kisses on his lips, she slowly released him from her grip, eyes still a bit glazed over with lust.

"Thanks for the mint," he breathed, lips slightly swollen from the kiss. She winked up at him and turned back towards the gaping Sakura and highly amused Sasuke.

"Sorry about that. Sometimes, we just can't help ourselves. It was nice seeing you two!" She latched onto Naruto's arm and led him towards the exit, pushing down the grin that was threatening to split her face. Fuck, she wished she had a camera to capture the look on Sakura's face.

"Congratulations on making ANBU, Naruto," Sasuke called from behind them. The blond looked over his shoulder and waved with a foxy grin on his face.

"Just make sure you get in there soon too!" The chuunin smirked and nodded, ignoring the incredulous stare he was receiving from his girlfriend.

"Didn't you see them making out just a few seconds ago?!" she shrieked, still obviously put off by their vivacious display of affection.

"Yeah, lucky bastard."

**ooooooooooooooooooo**

"My god, that was awesome! She looked like a fish!" Tenten laughed, leaning heavily on the blond at her side.

"Really? I wasn't really paying attention. Your tongue down my throat was pretty distracting." She punched him lightly on the arm, her smile widening at the fake whimper he produced shortly afterwards. They walked along in silence for a few minutes, both enjoying the full moon and numerous stars dotting the sky. It was a beautiful night, and glancing down at the still softly smiling girl, realized that there was something much more beautiful than the sky right next to him. "Thanks," he said, still staring down at her. She raised her eyes to meet his in curiosity.

"For what?"

"For everything. For remembering about my exam, taking me out to dinner, pretending to be my girlfriend so that I wouldn't feel so bad about Sasuke and Sakura...you know, everything." He noticed her smile seemed to drop a bit when he said the word 'pretending', but brushed it off for the time being. He didn't want to ruin things by over thinking such a simple action. "I really appreciate it." She shook her head and widened her smile again.

"No, I had fun! It...was actually my first date, and it was just like I'd imagined it would be." Barring the confrontation with Sakura, of course.

"Mine too! Though, I kind of imagined it'd be with Sakura-chan." This time, her smile almost completely dropped from her face, and he instantly realized that he'd made a mistake in his choice of words. "Wait! I didn't mean it like that! I meant, when I imagined it before! Having my first date with you was awesome, too!"

"Hey, isn't your apartment around here?" she asked, not so subtly changing the subject. He furrowed his brows a bit at her question, but nodded.

"Yeah, next street over. Why?"

"I want to see it! I've never been to your place, and you've been living in mine for awhile now. It's only fair, right?" Without even giving him a chance to answer, she tightened her grip on his arm and led him towards his apartment building. She practically pulled him up the steps despite not knowing which one was his, and realizing this fact, impatiently looked up at him for directions -- a fact that amused him to no end. He lifted a finger and pointed towards his apartment.

"That one." No sooner had the words left his mouth did he find himself being pulled towards said room. She tapped her foot in impatience as he struggled to unlock the door, and when he finally got it open, was the first one inside. He turned on the lights and made a huge, sweeping, sarcastic gesture. "And here we are, my humble abode. There's really not much to see." He turned to look at her, but found that she'd disappeared in the two seconds he had taken his eyes off of her. "Tenten?"

"In here!" Lifting an eyebrow, he headed towards the voice; which just happened to be coming from his bedroom. Sensing danger, he cautiously walked into the small room, looking in all directions as he entered.

"Tenten? You're in here, right?" The sound of the door slamming and locking behind him confirmed his fears, and he turned around just in time to see the smaller girl launch herself at him. He stumbled backwards a few steps in an attempt to regain his balance, but only ended up falling flat back first onto his bed with Tenten still wrapped around his torso. They lie in that position for a few seconds, just listening to the sound of each other's breaths and the feel of each other's heartbeat against their chests. Finally, he attempted to get up -- only to find that he couldn't. "I can't move," he said, still struggling underneath her.

"Good."

"Tenten..." Knowing what he was about to say next, she snuggled herself deeper into his chest and gripped his body tighter against her.

"I just want to stay like this for a little while. Can't I?" He let loose a small sigh but nodded. He honestly couldn't think of any reason why not, and she'd sounded so sincere when she'd said it. It seemed as if she didn't have any ulterior motives for the time being.

"You really should be more careful. You're pregnant, you know."

"I know; with our baby." Although she couldn't see it, he slowly nodded his head again.

"It feels weird knowing that we're going to be parents, doesn't it? I mean, we're still teenagers. We're supposed to have our whole lives ahead of us, yet we're already going to have a child. In under half a year, we'll basically be creating something that's a part of both of us. It seems unreal." Tenten chuckled lightly into his chest.

"I didn't know you could be so deep." He grunted annoyedly in response, earning another round of giggles from the kunoichi. "I understand what you mean, though. Even now I'm not sure if I can do it. If _we_ can do it. We're both orphans, and neither of us have ever had any parents. We don't have any kind of examples to go by unless you count daytime television, and we're still kids ourselves; eighteen is an extremely young age to have such a huge responsibility. Sometimes I worry if I'll be a good mother."

"You will be." She lifted her head to look at him, disbelief apparent on her face.

"What makes you say that?"

"I can just tell. Even though you can't really cook, clean, and don't know how to take care of children--" Tenten punched him lightly in the side, scowling up at him in disdain, "--You, like me, have a lot of love to give. I think the fact that we were both orphans will make us _better_ parents. We know what it's like to be alone, and there's no way either of us will let our son go through that." She nodded her agreement, smiling softly at his words. Hearing him express his feelings on the matter made her much more confident in her own abilities, and--

"Wait, what do you mean _our son_? We're obviously have a girl."

"Are you _kidding?! _There's _no way_ that could happen. We're going to have a brown haired, blue eyed little boy." She glared at him with as much hate as she could muster (which wasn't much at this point in time).

"Uh, wrong. We're going to have a blond haired, brown eyed little girl."

"What makes you so sure?!"

"What makes _you_ so sure!"

"I just know these things! My intuition has never failed me before!" Tenten choked out a laugh, highly amused by his baseless deduction.

"Well, the baby is growing inside of _me_, and _I_ can tell that _she _is going to have blond hair and brown eyes. My mother's intuition thoroughly trumps yours." Naruto huffed lightly, realizing that he really had no way of beating that.

"In any case, I'll be happy no matter how the baby comes out."

"Those sound like the words of a loser to me."

"Shut up." She laughed again and snuggled herself deeper into her chest, breathing in the scent of him mixed with the smell of the restaurant they'd left over half an hour ago. For some reason, she felt completely safe in his arms, and she just knew that everything would be okay as long as he was there. She relaxed herself against him and let out a yawn, drifting in and out of consciousness as they lie together. Unable to keep herself awake any longer, she slowly closed her eyes and mumbled one last sentence before going to sleep.

"I'm glad you're the father." Surprised, the blond looked down at her, only to find that she was already asleep. Smirking to himself, he reached around for his sheet and draped it over the two of them, wrapping his arms around her as he did so.

"Me too."


	8. Chapter 8

**Illegitimate Love**

**Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto.**

**Chapter 8**

Tenten slowly awoke from her slumber, mouth opening wide in a yawn. For the most part, she felt thoroughly rested. The comfort she felt while sleeping was unrivaled, and as she creaked her eyes open to see exactly what the warm squishy thing below her was, she instantly understood why.

Although it was a bit hard to see in the dimly lit room, she could easily make out the angular face and spiky blond hair of Naruto. A smirk appeared on her face as she watched and felt the steady breathing coming from his mouth, and she pressed herself tighter against him in an attempt to siphon some more warmth from his body. If she wasn't careful, she could get used to this.

She lie her head back down on his chest with a sigh, listening to the powerful thumping of his heart against his ribcage. It was growing harder and harder to believe that they'd been at each other's throats just under a few months ago. A lot had happened since then, and though she hadn't told him yet, she'd recently entered the second trimester of her pregnancy.

She'd actually been meaning to ask him to come with her to one of the appointments but had never been able to find a good time to do it. He was always too busy with training for the ANBU, and when he wasn't doing that, he was either sleeping or helping out Hinata. Now that she thought about it, they really hadn't spent much time together despite living under the same roof.

The sound of one of Naruto's floorboards creaking instantly snapped her out of her thoughts, and the hairs on the back of her neck began to stand to up. She glanced up at the blond to see if he'd noticed, but as she'd expected, he was still blissfully unaware of anything around him.

Shrugging slightly, she turned her head to stare in the direction she thought she'd heard the sound. It was still too dark in the room to see anything, and the area where the creaking had come from was especially shrouded in shadows. Just as she was about to write the noise off as her own paranoia, she heard the steady thumping of footsteps coming from the dark corner. Feeling the beginnings of fear in the bottom of her stomach, Tenten pushed herself up onto her hands and fully turned her body in the direction of the noise.

"Who's there?" she asked, trying to keep her voice down in case she was just imagining things. Her eyes widened in fear as she saw a black figure begin to materialize from the darkness, and she pushed herself up onto her knees in case she had to fight.

"You and Naruto-kun didn't come home last night, Tenten-chan. I was worried." Her body relaxed a bit as she recognized the soft voice of Hinata.

"Oh, Hinata. How did you get in here?" The girl smiled softly, stepping all the way out of the darkness.

"The front door was unlocked, so I figured you two might be here. More importantly, what are you doing to Naruto-kun?" Tenten froze as she remembered exactly who it was that she was lying on top of. Her face shifting into one of horror, she turned to look at the still smiling Hyuuga.

"N-no! Hinata! This isn't what it looks like! Nothing happened, we just fell asleep this way!" Hinata shook her head and widened her smile, taking another step forward.

"I know that, silly! You're both still fully clothed. Besides, you don't love Naruto-kun, right?" She started to agree with the smaller girl, but found that her voice wouldn't come out. Just how did she feel about Naruto? She wouldn't deny that she liked him; although he could be annoyingly naive and stupid sometimes, for the most part the blond was possibly the sweetest person she'd ever met. He was one of the very few people in the world that was truly genuine and dependable, and every time she was around him, she felt safe and secure. She lowered her head and stared down at Naruto's chest, struggling to get her thoughts together.

"I...we..." Rather than wait for an answer, Hinata nodded her head in understanding.

"I see. Well, then, I guess it can't be helped." Tenten's head snapped up just in time to see the Hyuuga's Byakugan eyes ablaze with hate, hand outstretched and swirling with murderous blue chakra. She couldn't move in time. Even if she could, her body was frozen in fear, preventing her from moving even an inch. Clenching her eyes shut, she screamed the first thing that came to mind.

_"NARUTO!"_

"Tenten! Wake up! Tenten!" Naruto yelled, eyebrows furrowed in fear and concern.

The girl shot up in surprise, eyes wide and chest heaving with exertion. A nightmare. It was only a nightmare. She looked over to her right to see that there was nothing in the room except the darkness, letting loose a sigh of relief as she did so.

"What happened?! Are you alright?! You just started screaming my name all of a sudden!" Her arms collapsed beneath her, sending her sprawling back onto his body.

"A...a dream. T-that's it." He slowly brought a hand up to her back, attempting to calm her down by rubbing it. He'd never seen Tenten so upset before, and to be quite honest, it worried him.

"It sounded more like a nightmare to me. Want to tell me about it?" She shook her and sighed, still panting heavily.

"What time is it?" He eyed her for a few more seconds before reaching up and grabbing his alarm clock.

"Four in the morning. Why?" She groaned loudly and rolled off of his body, landing on her feet and raising her arms above her head to stretch. She was sure that she looked like shit, but she really wasn't in the mood to be a girl yet.

"We should probably head home. Well, to my home. I told Hinata we'd be back by twelve at the latest, and she might be getting worried about us." What she didn't tell him was that she was afraid of her finding them first. While it'd still look bad for the two of them to show up four hours late, it'd look worse if they were four hours late_ in his bed._

She quickly adjusted her dress and grabbed her purse off of the floor, looping it haphazardly over her shoulder. Naruto watched her move with concern. Something about her seemed...off. She looked worried -- frightened, even. Her movements were choppy and sharp as she put herself together, and he swore he saw her hands shake as she slipped her heels on.

"Tenten? Are you sure you're alright?" The teenager flashed him a quick grin and turned to leave the room.

"Promise."

**oooooooooooooooooooooo**

Sticking the key into the lock, Tenten slowly turned it in a counter-clockwise direction. Every movement she made sounded ten times louder in her head despite her best efforts to remain quiet. If she was lucky, Hinata would be asleep. She really, _really_ didn't feel like dealing with her just yet.

"Tenten." The young woman jumped in surprise, snapping her head up to look at the blond next to her. His eyebrows were knitted together with worry as his deep blue eyes stared invasively into her own. Not even a hint of amusement flickered across his face, and she realized for the first time that he was honestly, truly concerned about her. "What's wrong? Don't say nothing, or I'll keep asking until you tell me."

She was touched that he cared; she really was. However, she was also growing increasingly annoyed with the way he seemed to be perceiving her. She wasn't some weak damsel in distress who needed to be saved by a fearless, handsome prince. She didn't _need_ to be coddled and hugged every second of every day to feel happy or whole. Her problems were her own, just like they always had been and always would be.

"You want to know what's wrong? What's _wrong_ is the fact that you think there's something bothering me. I told you I was fine, so drop it." Okay, so _maybe_ she'd been a little harsh with her words. He really didn't deserve the attitude she gave him, but it was the only way she knew he'd listen. Naruto sighed loudly, tilting his head back and staring up at the sky in what looked to her like annoyance.

"Right. Fine. You know yourself better than I do, so I should just butt out. I got it." She opened her mouth to apologize, but closed it soon after. Why should have to say she was sorry? She hadn't done anything wrong. If anything, it was_ his_ fault for being so goddamn pervasive. Turning back to the door, she pulled her key from the lock and turned the doorknob as carefully as she could.

The entire apartment was dark; as was to be expected given the time of day. Tenten almost felt like sighing in relief. Maybe she really could avoid dealing with Hinata until later that morning. She fully stepped into the apartment and slipped off her heels, kicking them lightly against the wall before walking fully into her home. When she didn't hear Naruto's heavier footsteps behind her, she looked over her shoulder to see him staring at his feet with an unreadable expression.

"What's up? Aren't you coming in?" she asked him, lifting an eyebrow in curiosity. Still not looking at her, he took a small breath of air and frowned.

"Actually...I think I'm just going to go back to my place." The jounin fully turned around to face him, her eyes opening a little wider in surprise.

"What? Why?!" He shrugged his shoulders, sticking his hands into his pockets as he did so.

"I dunno, I just sorta feel like it. I mean, I haven't been there in awhile, and I'm sure you're tired of me being around all the time, so..." Tenten swallowed noisily, wanting more than anything to tell him that he was wrong; to tell him that she _liked_ him being there all the time. But she wasn't like that. She didn't need anyone around to feel happy or safe.

"Oh. Well...I guess that's okay." She idly wondered if he was still upset that she wouldn't tell him what was bothering her. "Are you coming back tonight?" For the first time since they'd started talking, he looked into her eyes with that same unreadable expression.

"I don't think so." His words hurt something inside of her. She didn't understand it. Just last night, they'd been discussing how great it would be to raise their child together, and not even six hours later, he suddenly didn't want anything to do with her. White hot anger built up in her system, and she marched up to the front door of her apartment with her mouth tightened into a thin line.

"No? Okay. Don't feel like you have to come back for my sake. Actually, you know what? Don't come back at all!" With that, she slammed the door in his face and locked it, making sure he heard the click of the latch to tell him that he wasn't welcome anymore. Not that he'd mind, since he'd obviously decided that he was tired of her.

While she should have felt satisfaction from the simple action, the emotion that was prevailing over all the others was the exact opposite. She roughly bit her lip to keep from crying. She didn't care. Why should she? She knew he'd go back on his word eventually.

Be there for her and the baby? Always support her? What had she been expecting? She knew how men were. She knew how they said whatever they thought would make the woman happy for the time being. He was just giving a pacifier to a baby. It was stupid of her to think that Naruto was any different.

Tilting her head back to roll the tears back into her eyes, she stalked off towards her bathroom to take a hot shower.

"Tenten-chan? Naruto-kun? Is that you?" Fuck. In her anger towards the ANBU officer, she'd completely forgotten to keep her voice down to avoid waking Hinata. A pang of fear washed over her as she looked into the smaller girl's violet eyes. "Tenten-chan? What happened to Naruto-kun?"

The brunette took a deep breath to calm herself, doing her best to appear as normal as possible. It didn't help that the Hyuuga had come out fucking nowhere.

"H-he went home. He won't be hanging around here much anymore." Before she could ask anymore questions, Tenten literally ran into her bathroom, slamming the door behind her. Shortly thereafter, she leaned against the slab of wood and cried. She knew it was pathetic to be crying over the situation, but she couldn't help it. The only thing that comforted her was the fact that no one was around to see her tears.

**oooooooooooooooooooooo**

"Neji-nii-san! Lee-san!" Both ANBU officers curiously turned around to see an out of breath Hinata racing to catch up to them. Her cheeks were red with exertion, and her long blue hair was matted to her face and neck. Immediately, Neji removed his mask and placed it on his hip.

"Hinata-sama! What happened?! What are you doing out at this hour?!" The girl took a few more gasping breaths of air, leaning her hands on her knees. She'd literally run around Konoha almost three times in search of Naruto, going everywhere from his apartment to his favorite training spot. Since she'd come up empty after almost an hour of nonstop running, she decided to enlist the help of her friends.

"Naruto...can't...find him..." she gasped out between breaths. The ANBU exchanged curious glances.

"What's wrong? What happened to Naruto?"

"I...I don't know! Tenten came home crying this morning and he..." The air surrounding the three of them took on a noticeably tense tone. "...what is it? Do you know where he is?" Without even answering, Neji nodded to Lee and turned sharply on his heel, heading in the opposite direction. He'd warned him. He _told_ Naruto what would happen if he made her cry. Although he couldn't see it behind the mask, he knew Lee's expression was just as scary -- if not _scarier_ -- than his own. They took their friendships very seriously, especially when it involved their other teammate.

"Please return home, Hinata-sama. We'll handle Naruto." Not liking his tone, Hinata grabbed her cousin's arms, effectively stopping him in his tracks.

"What are you going to do to him? If you're going to hurt him, then --"

"Do not worry, Hinata-san. Neji and I just wish to lecture him on correct etiquette towards a lady." The girl slowly released her grip, lightly nodding her understanding. If Lee said it, she believed them. Nodding towards Lee again, the two of them disappeared in a swirl of leaves, leaving a worried Hinata behind.

On top of the Fourth Hokage's head, Naruto was currently staring at the rising sun, arms crossed underneath his head. From a distance, it looked as if he was simply relaxing and enjoying the view. If anyone bothered to get within three feet of him, they'd have instantly realized how wrong they were.

His face was the picture of anger. His eyebrows dipped angrily towards his nose, and his teeth were set firmly and powerfully against each other.

He was pissed.

No, that was an understatement. He wanted to kill something. While he'd been initially happy that the Hokage had given him the week off for passing his ANBU exam, he now wished that he had a mission to go on that involved catching bandits, hunting down a rogue ninja, or even finding and kicking stray puppies to sleep -- anything that would allow him to spill the blood of others.

He didn't get Tenten. He didn't understand her at all! One minute she's shoving her tongue down his throat, and the next she was telling him she doesn't want to see him again! Was it a girl thing, or was it just her?! For some reason, he was inclined to go with the second one. There was _no way_ all females were that fucked up in the head.

He rolled over onto his side, tired of watching the brightly glowing sun. He didn't want to be cheered up. For the first time ever, he wanted to stew in his anger, allowing himself to fall further and further into the darkness that was currently inside of him. That's just how much she pissed him off.

All he wanted to do was give her some personal space. He knew he could be annoying and unbearable at times, so he was trying to look out for her needs. She'd pretty much said in not so many words that he was annoying her. Was it so wrong of him to actually consider how she was feeling?

Two looming shadows interrupted his thoughts, and he rolled over onto his back to see the angry eyes of both Neji and Lee staring down at him.

"I knew you'd be here," Neji practically spat, fists clenched at his sides. Naruto groaned inwardly but smirked, putting on his cheerful mask as best he could despite his feelings.

"Hey, guys. Look, I'm not really in the mood right now, so can we talk about this later?"

"No. Did we not tell you what would happen if you made Tenten cry again? You would be wise to take your punishment right now." In the back of his mind, the blond wondered just how the fuck they'd managed to find out about it so quickly. The thing at the forefront of his thoughts, though, were the words Lee had spoken.

"She...cried? Why? _She_ threw _me_ out!" The Hyuuga's glare hardened, and he took a menacing step closer to the jinchuuriki.

"Don't try to talk your way out of it. How it happened is irrelevant. Tenten cried, we kick your ass." The grin on Naruto's face immediately dropped. He'd been tired of holding it up anyway. Sitting up, he regarded his friends with a piercing glare.

"I was serious when I said that I'm not in the mood for this. It won't be like last time; that time, I was wrong, and I deserved it. This time, however, I didn't do _anything_. If you still insist on giving me my 'punishment', I won't hold back. Leave now while I'm still in a reasonably good mood." When neither of the two backed down, the blond slowly stood to his feet, face still staring towards the ground. "I see."

Before either of them could blink, Naruto launched a lightning fast fist into Lee's face, sending him flying backwards into the woods on top of the Hokage Monument. In return, however, he received a powerful roundhouse kick to the side of the head from Neji. The blow sent him skidding across the top of the mountain until he was eventually able to stop himself on top of the Godaime's head.

"What was that?" he sneered, feeling angrier with each passing moment. This was what he'd wanted -- something to vent on. While he'd rather they not have been his friends, he'd take what he could get. Without so much as moving, ten shadow clones phased into existence, surrounding him in a protective semi-circle. "Go." All ten of them rushed the Hyuuga as one, intent on overpowering him as soon as possible. Out of nowhere, two of them were taken down by an especially powerful kick.

"**Konoha Senpuu**!" Lee yelled, knocking the clones out of existence. "That punch hurt. Allow me to return the favor!" Sidestepping the remaining clones, he ran full speed at the original Naruto. Once he was within striking distance, the ANBU officer leapt into the air, twisting clockwise as he did so. "Konoha Dai Sen -- huh?" To his surprise, the blond had literally disappeared, leaving him to continue flying through the air.

"Too slow." Before he could even move, a sharp kick to his midsection sent the green and black clad boy flying back in the direction he'd come; right into a furiously fighting Hyuuga. They knocked against each other and painfully hit the ground, the wind pushed out of both of them. His glare hardening, Naruto stared at his friends without even the slightest shred of remorse."I told you before; I won't hold back."

The two teammates slowly got to their feet, each of them holding a different part of their bodies. He wasn't kidding about the not holding back part. Looking at each other, both teenagers seemed to phase out of existence -- a fact that immediately set the blond on edge.

"**Hakke Kuushou**!" A huge wave of chakra sent Naruto flying from behind. While he'd been expecting them to teleport somewhere that he couldn't see, he certainly hadn't expected them to use a ranged attack. He started to activate one of the seals he had planted on the mountain, but just as he was about to teleport himself out of harm's way, Lee flew down from the sky with a fist outstretched.

"**Konoha Raiken**!" The fist hit him squarely in the jaw, and wincing, he swore he felt something break. Unfortunately, it didn't end there. Neji was already on the ground, waiting in a position the jinchuuriki knew all too well.

"**Hakke Rokujuuyonshou**! Two palms!" Thinking quickly, Naruto twirled himself enough in midair so that he was facing the Hyuuga and channeled chakra into his hands, effectively blocking the strikes. "Four palms!" Again, the blond parried the attacks. "Eight palms!" While he couldn't avoid all of them this time, he was able to get off with only receiving a glancing blow on the shoulder. "Sixteen palms!"

To be honest, Neji was absolutely amazed that he hadn't been able to land a solid blow yet. It took incredible reflexes and coordination to stop his attacks, yet Naruto was able to do it; after being punched quite powerfully in the jaw and still falling in midair. For the third time, Naruto parried the attacks.

"Thirty-two palms!" Two of the blows managed to connect solidly, but most of them were either dodged or muffled by the blond's own chakra. "Sixty-Four palms!" Despite his best efforts, the Hyuuga just couldn't get more than three solid hits on the teen even with sixty-four successive attacks! As soon as he landed, Naruto quickly used the Shunshin no Jutsu to teleport a dozen feet away.

Sweat beaded the blond's forehead as he struggled to gain a hold on his breathing. It wasn't easy moving his arms that fast. Thoroughly tired of the situation, he placed a temporary seal on his own arm and then created twenty clones, making it so that each clone was now a potential escape route. It also made it so that each clone could instantly teleport out of the way if they were about to be hit. Grinning smugly, he had the clones spread out around the two ANBU officers.

"**Uzumaki Storm**. You two are the first to experience it." Without so much as another word, he sent the clones in to battle. They zipped, zoomed, flashed, and teleported around the clearing, creating a virtual storm of yellow, orange, and black. Every now and then a puff of smoke was seen or heard, but for the most part, only the grunts and yelps of pain from the two trapped inside the chaos floated out of the clusterfuck.

Finally, after nearly an entire minute of this, each of the clones stopped to survey the damage. Unsurprisingly, the two officers were knocked unconscious by the hail of kicks and punches they'd received. Naruto walked up to them to check their pulses, making sure he hadn't overdone it.

"Sorry," he mumbled, standing up again. "I told you I wasn't in the mood." With that, he dispelled the remaining clones and walked off down the mountain path, deciding to finally head home for a shower.

It didn't take him long to reach his apartment; once he was in range, he activated the seal he'd placed on his front door and teleported himself directly in front of it. What he didn't expect, however, was for someone to already be there waiting for him. With nothing short of shinobi skill, Naruto _just_ managed to change his position to a few inches from the person's left.

"Hinata-chan?! What're _you_ doing here?" he panted, glad that he hadn't knocked her over. The girl looked positively shocked that he'd appeared out of nowhere, but she eventually got a hold of herself and turned to face him.

"I-it's about Tenten-chan..." If he were any less of man, he would have groaned right then and there. His face dropping into a bitter smile, he pulled his keys from his pocket and began to unlock the door.

"Are you here to kick my ass too?"

"Kick your -- why would I -- Oh no!" Before he could even blink, Hinata had her slim, warm hands on his cheeks, obviously just noticing his injuries. There were still some deep blue bruises from Neji and Lee's attacks; a true testament to their strength. "They didn't! They promised they wouldn't!" The teenager's face instantly showed understanding.

"Ah, that's how they found out about us so fast." Worried, Hinata bowed lowly at the waist in front of him.

"I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! It's all my fault! I-I asked them to help me find you, but I didn't think they'd do something like this!" A small grin appeared on Naruto's face, and sighing on the inside, he placed his hand on her shoulder and pushed her into an upright position.

"You were just worried about Tenten, right? You don't have to apologize." He opened the door and held out a hand. "Want to come in?" The blue-haired girl looked up at him with wide, disbelieving eyes. "For tea! Just to talk a little." Still in a mild state of shock, Hinata dipped her head and slowly walked into his apartment.

She couldn't believe this was happening. After countless days and nights of dreaming about the day she'd finally be invited into his home, it was finally happening. Not in the way she'd imagined it, but she'd take what she could get.

Looking around the small room, she noticed that for a guy, he was relatively neat. Besides a few books and scrolls strewn about the living room, his place was nearly spotless. Holding up a box of instant green tea, he smiled sheepishly and shrugged.

"I only have the cheap stuff, so..." She fiercely shook her head, immediately joining him in the kitchen.

"No! This is more than enough! I'm just happy you offered!" When he looked at her strangely, she quickly blushed and lowered her head. She was being way too exuberant in her reactions, and now he probably thought she was weird.

"See, why couldn't Tenten be like you? With you, I know what's going on, but with her..." He frowned deeply, completely missing the cherry red face of the girl next to him. She felt like she could pass out at anytime, and it took all of her willpower just to stay standing. Naruto, _her Naruto_, had just said she was better than Tenten. That was a bigger compliment than anyone on Earth could ever give her.

The shrill whistling of the teapot threw her out of her thoughts, and she idly watched the young man pour the hot water into two cups. He carefully walked the tray over to his small table and set it down, motioning for her to take a seat.

"T-thank you," she murmured, still unable to believe what was happening. The blond grinned and nodded, stirring some sugar into his tea. An awkward silence settled over the two as they sipped and stirred their beverages, both trying to figure out how to say what they wanted to.

"So..." Naruto started, instantly gaining Hinata's attention, "How was Tenten?" The Hyuuga's face noticeably dropped. Of course. She knew why he invited her in the first place. Why was she surprised?

"She...was crying. She said you wouldn't be hanging around as much anymore." The blond slightly lowered his head, staring into his cup of tea.

"I figured as much." Seeing him look so downtrodden, Hinata felt righteous anger grow within her. Tenten didn't deserve someone as kind, gentle, and loyal as Naruto. She didn't understand him at all, nor did she ever try to! Reaching across the table, she hesitantly placed her hand on top of his.

"D-do you want to tell me about it?" He looked up at her with unsure eyes, debating in his mind what to do. Sure, he wanted to talk to someone about their fight, but she was Tenten's best friend. Who knows how the Hyuuga would react if he said something bad about her? Sensing his train of thought, she tightened her grip and put on her most determined smile. "I promise I won't be upset by anything that you say. I'm just here to help." Her smile widened when he dipped his head in reluctant agreement. He sat back in his chair with a frown, trying to figure out where to start.

"Well, I think the thing that bothers me the most is that I can't figure out where I stand with her. We had such a good time last night that I started to feel like she actually liked me, but then this morning she was all standoffish and tense. It doesn't make any sense." Despite wanting to know exactly what he meant by 'having a good time,' Hinata had bigger things to worry about. If what he said was true, then Tenten was starting to realize exactly how good she had it! The jounin frowned on the inside. She needed to put a stop to this.

"It's not your fault, Naruto-kun." At his puzzled expression, she continued. "Maybe she didn't want you to get the wrong idea. Perhaps she felt that you were starting to like her as more than a friend and wanted to put a stop to it." His eyes widened slightly as he seemed to understand what she was getting at.

"I get it! If it's like that, then it makes perfect sense!" His face dropped soon afterwards as he remembered something important. "But...she cried. Why would she cry if she just wanted me to keep my distance?" The young woman cursed under her breath. He was much smarter than he was a few years ago, and it was harder to get anything by him.

"T-that's because she didn't like hurting you! She still likes you as a_ friend_, Naruto-kun, but not as a _boyfriend_. Do you understand?" To her surprise, the ANBU officer hopped to his feet, turning towards the door with a resolute expression.

"Yeah. I'm going to talk to her and straighten this whole thing out. It was all just a big misunderstanding, and I don't want her to be upset over something like this."

"No!" Confused, he turned around to shoot her a questioning eyebrow. "I...I mean, you probably shouldn't be around her too much for a little awhile. I'll relay the message for you, okay? Just give her some time to calm down. In the meantime, I can visit you everyday and let you know how she's doing." He seemed to think it over for a few seconds, his face scrunched up as he tossed the idea around in his head.

"Alright then. Even though I'd rather straighten it out myself, you know Tenten best." Hinata smiled and nodded, taking another sip from her teacup.

"Don't worry, Naruto-kun. I'll take care of everything."

**oooooooooooooooooooooo**

"Tenten? You really should eat something. You're pregnant, you know." The brunette sighed for what felt like the hundredth time that day. Nodding, she reached for one of the tea cakes resting neatly on the tray in front of her and took a tiny bite, barely even scraping the edge of the pastry. Despite her best efforts, she just couldn't work up an appetite -- even at the insistence of her hero.

"I'm sorry, Tsunade-sama. I'm just not very hungry right now." The blond narrowed her eyes slightly, peering skeptically at the young kunoichi.

"Why is that? Didn't you say that you hadn't eaten breakfast? Maybe you'd like some real food. We can continue this discussion at a restaurant, if you want. My treat." While nothing would please her more than to eat a meal with the Hokage, it was impossible. It took all of her willpower just to drink the tea she'd been given. She hung her head in shame, not even able to look the woman in the eyes.

"I'm sorry."

"There's no need to apologize; it was just a suggestion. However, I'm a little concerned about your health. Your last checkup was last week, I believe. What did Shizune say?" Still staring at her lap, Tenten mumbled out a response.

"There's nothing physically wrong with me. She says my lack of appetite is mostly mental."

"I see. I don't suppose this has anything to do with Naruto?" The brunette noticeably flinched in her seat. While she didn't want to give the asshole any credit for her problem, she had to admit that she hadn't eaten well ever since their fight. However, she was also curious as to how the Hokage had known.

"N-no, why? Did he say something was wrong?" Rather than answer her question, she leaned back in her large chair and regarded the teenager with a curious stare.

"Naruto's mission performance has been steadily dropping for the past few weeks. He's been increasingly absent-minded and clumsy, so much so that he almost caused his squad to fail in their last mission. No one can figure out why, so I thought maybe your situation was linked with his. " Tenten glanced up at the woman in mild surprise. What was she trying to say? That Naruto was suffering because of her? She snorted at the thought. He sure hadn't been suffering when he'd left her.

"Oh? I'm sorry to hear that." By her tone of voice, Tsunade could tell that she was anything but sorry. While she'd had her suspicions before, she now knew for a fact that something had happened. Dealing with teenage drama wasn't exactly her forte, but since the health of her unborn niece was at stake, she decided that she could stomach it this one time.

"Indeed. Perhaps you can meet with him when he gets back from his mission. You know, give him a pep talk or go out to eat or something. Cheer him up."

"Tsunade-sama, I don't think --"

"He should be back in a couple of hours if everything went according to plan. That's plenty of time to change and make any relevant preparations, don't you think?" Tenten hung her head, feeling utterly horribly in front of her idol. What could she say?_ "Oh, I've been lying this entire time. Naruto and I actually hate each other's guts."_

Yeah, that'd go over _real_ well.

Instead, she stood to her feet and bowed in front of the Hokage.

"I'm sorry, Tsunade-sama, but I really have to go now." With that, the girl abruptly turned around and walked towards the large double doors of the office. Frowning, the sannin reached for her hidden bottle of sake, pouring the alcohol into her teacup with a sigh. She was getting too old for this.

oooooooooooooooooooooo

Gripping the scroll tightly under one arm, Naruto hopped through the trees at a remarkably fast pace, easily avoiding the large tree branches and leaves in his path. He'd be lying to himself if he said that he wasn't happy.

After the immense amount of mistakes he'd made on his last mission, he had done everything in his power to make this one as perfect as possible. The goal had been simple; deliver the signed treaty with Ame from their village to Konoha. While this normally wouldn't be so tough, Iwagakure apparently didn't approve of the agreement and had sent over twenty jounin-level shinobi to take them down.

The battle had been a bit tough in the beginning, but once he'd gained enough breathing room to pull out his newly developed Uzumaki Storm, it had been relatively easy to reduce the group of Iwa ninja to bloody masses of flesh.

"Slow down!" a feminine voice called from behind him. "We don't have to be back for another few hours, and we're only half an hour's jogging distance from the village." Naruto glanced over his shoulder at his squad leader and teammates, frowning deeply behind his mask.

"But I wanna do really good this time! I could've gotten you guys killed on the last mission, and by completing it a little earlier, we get paid extra!" The woman grunted as she flipped over a particularly large branch.

"Wow, a whole one thousand yen. _Woohoo_." The blond rolled his eyes and turned forward again. She'd thank him once they got there. "You just want to get home to your wifey for some hot, rough, bone-chillingly good sex, don't you?" She lifted an eyebrow as she noticed that the young man seemed to slow his pace a little. "Or did she dump your sorry ass?"

"Shut up," he mumbled, not even honoring the woman with a glance. Honestly, he was starting to miss being around Tenten. He hadn't seen hide nor hair of her for almost three weeks, but according to Hinata, she was doing just fine without him. A small smile flickered across his face as he thought about his only confidant in the situation.

He was immensely grateful to the Hyuuga for helping him out. She'd stopped by every single day to relay information on the brunette to him, and more often than not, she'd also bring him dinner. Despite all the girl had done, though, he couldn't help but want to see how Tenten was doing for himself.

"If it's any consolation, I'm sure you could find a new girlfriend pretty easily. Hell,_ I'd_ even take you on for a little while if you wanted me to." The violent coughing of his other two teammates told him all he needed to know, and shooting the woman a sheepish grin, he shook his head.

"Ahh, that's okay, I'm fine. Hey, look! There's the village!" Using a little extra chakra, he launched himself as far as he could towards Konoha, putting as much distance between them as possible. Glaring over her shoulder at the other two men in her team, the kunoichi sucked her teeth and moved to catch up.

"Damn, almost had him."

They reached ANBU headquarters in another ten minutes, and not wanting to be caught by his overly flirtatious squad leader again, Naruto speedily changed into his normal gear.

"You leaving already?" one of his teammates asked, towel wrapped around his waist as he emerged from the shower. "We were all gonna spend that extra thousand yen you got us on some beers." Slipping on a plain white t-shirt, the blond grinned and shrugged his shoulders

"Sorry, I don't think I can avoid the captain's advances for that long. Next time for sure, though." He waved to the man and slipped out of the men's changing room, being sure to stick close the walls lest he run into his crazy teammate. He was so caught up in avoiding the older woman, that he completely missed the girl that had so easily walked up behind him.

"Uzumaki-san." Naruto jumped in surprise, slowly turning his head to meet the serious and mildly impassive eyes of Hyuuga Hanabi.

"We need to talk."

**--**

**Jutsu List:**

**Konoha Senpuu - Leaf Whirlwind**

**Hakke Kuushou - Eight Divination Signs Air Palm**

**Konoha Raiken - Leaf Thunder Fist**

**Hakke Rokujuuyonshou - Eight Divination Signs, Sixty-Four Palms**

**--**

**AN: I have a huge fuckin' headache, yet I pumped out 1k words just now. Ugh. **

**PS, artists/photographers/etc. should read my profile.  
**


	9. Chapter 9

**Illegitimate Love**

**Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto.**

**Chapter 9**

"...So, Hanabi-chan," Naruto started, awkwardly picking at his plate of sashimi. Shortly after the girl's proclamation that she needed to speak with him, the two shinobi had relocated to a sushi restaurant a few blocks away. He didn't quite understand how it had turned out like this, but somehow, the younger Hyuuga didn't seem like the type to take 'no' for an answer.

"Hanabi-san is fine." The blond winced slightly at her response. She probably hadn't meant it in an insulting way, but it was scathing nonetheless.

"Right, Hanabi-san. What did you want to see me about?" With a grace only seen by members of the Hyuuga clan, the thirteen year old gingerly placed her chopsticks on her plate and used her napkin to lightly dab at the corners of her mouth.

"It is about onee-sama." She paused as if waiting for him to say something, and when he didn't, she continued. "I wish for you to stop seeing her." Naruto stared at her in disbelief, waiting for the girl to laugh -- or at least crack a smile. When she didn't, he leaned forward a little in his seat.

"What?" A brief look of annoyance passed over her face.

"I wish for you to stop seeing my onee-sama." Her dull, violet eyes bore into his with what he assumed to be impatience. Despite his best efforts, he just couldn't understand what she was trying to say. Did she think they were dating or something?

"I'm not sure I follow. Hinata-chan and I aren't going out or anything." If it was even possible, the genin's eyes glared harder into his.

"So you're just screwing her on the side, then?" Unfortunately for him, Naruto had just chosen that moment to take a swig from his glass of tea. He choked and sputtered on the liquid, unable to believe the words that had come out of the Hyuuga's mouth.

"W-what?! No! No way! Me and Hinata-chan?!" For the first time since they'd met, Hanabi looked confused. She was certain they had been sleeping together, but the shocked look on his face told her otherwise.

"You two aren't having sex?"

"That's what I've been saying! No!" He was glad that they'd chosen a table in the very back of the nearly empty restaurant; this conversation would be incredibly awkward if there were a lot of other people around. Save for an old, brown-haired woman and what looked like a drunken young chuunin, they were alone in the sushi hut. Still, the girl narrowed her eyes angrily, giving him the infamous Hyuuga glare.

"You're lying. If you don't love her, return my onee-sama to me at once." Already tired of the argument, Naruto leaned back and groaned, running a tired hand over his face. Was he _this_ stubborn when _he_ was a kid?

"I'm not! Look, Hinata-chan's just been helping me out lately, that's all. I swear!" He could literally see understanding begin to pour into Hanabi's face, and sighing on the inside, he was glad that she seemed to be getting it.

"But...she suddenly left home a few months ago, and when I finally found her again, she was just leaving your apartment. I assumed that she was living with you." At this bit of information, the blond's eyebrows shot up into his forehead. Something wasn't adding up here.

"Wait, don't you know that Hinata-chan's been staying at Tenten's place to help her with the pregnancy?" That was it. Activating her Byakugan, Hanabi banged her fist on the table and stood up, face twisted in obvious rage.

"Stop fucking with me! Do you have any idea how serious this is?! If anyone else finds out that the Hyuuga heiress has been screwing around with the likes of you, the clan's reputation will be ruined! I'm trying to give you a chance to back out now before my father and everyone else finds out!" The ANBU officer blinked in surprise at the outburst. He didn't even think the Hyuuga knew any curse words, let alone used them.

"_Like I said_, I'm not lying! If you don't believe me, why don't you go to Tenten's apartment and see for yourself?!" She glared into his eyes for a few tense seconds, just_ waiting_ for him to avert his gaze or give some kind of sign that he was deceiving her. The Hyuuga were masters at reading a person by their body movements alone, but the blond in front of her radiated nothing but honesty. Either he was extremely good at hiding his intentions, or he was telling the truth. She sat down in her chair with a loud sigh, holding her forehead in her hands.

"You're really telling the truth, aren't you?" Naruto grunted annoyedly, rolling his eyes as if saying 'duh.' Hanabi lifted her head with a frown. "I...I can't believe Tenten agreed to it, though. I thought she'd be petrified of onee-sama after what happened." The young man narrowed his eyes. This was new. He hadn't heard anything about problems between the two until now.

"Petrified? Hanabi, what exactly happened between Hinata-chan and Tenten?" The girl let loose another sigh, once again dropping her eyes to the table in front of her. There was really no easy way to say this without painting her sister in a bad light.

"Onee-sama...said some things to Tenten-san after she heard about the pregnancy," she started, idly stirring her now lukewarm tea with her spoon. Naruto's gaze hardened.

"What kinds of things?" For some reason, she felt mildly intimidated by his stare. The only person who had even _dared_ to look at her like that was her father, and seeing it come from someone else was somewhat frightening.

"I have to go now." She didn't have to look up at him to know that he was glaring intently at her. Even if his anger wasn't directed at herself, she still felt a little bit of fear in the bottom of her stomach. The genin stood to her feet and grabbed her purse, placing a few bills on the table. Just as she was about to leave, Naruto grabbed her tiny wrist in his much larger hand.

"What kinds of things?" he repeated, voice much more dangerous than it had been before. Both ninjas' eyes stared into the others. Hanabi attempted to rip her arm from his grasp, but found that the blond was much stronger than he looked at first glance.

"Let me go. You're hurting me." Frowning, he loosened his grip on her wrist. She stepped back and rubbed at the slightly sore appendage, glaring daggers at him the entire time.

"Sorry," he muttered, a forlorn look appearing on his face, "It's just that...this whole pregnancy thing has got me so confused, and now that I finally have a lead as to what's going on, I don't want to let it go." The girl snorted in disbelief, regaining a bit of her confidence now that she had managed to put some distance between them.

"What, did you think that having a baby would be easy? That as long as you kept smiling and tried your best, everything would turn out fine?" She spat, disdain apparent in every syllable. He lowered his eyes to the ground and shrugged, unable to answer her question. To be honest, he hadn't known what to expect.

The only other pregnant woman he'd ever known had been Kurenai, and Shikamaru had been extremely tight-lipped about things during her pregnancy. However, the tired and annoyed expression constantly marring his friend's face should have told him something.

The lost puppy dog look on his face made her wince. As much as she wanted to hate the blond for having the gall to touch her, she couldn't. There was something about him that made her want to just hug him tightly and tell him that everything would be all right. Hanabi blinked at this strange train of thought. Was this the infamous "power" she'd heard so much about?

Sighing loudly, she realized that she really couldn't leave him alone. Even if he himself didn't know it yet, the idiot really did care for Tenten; so much so that it was starting to make her jealous, and she didn't even like the guy! Turning her back on the ANBU officer, she clutched her purse tighter in her tiny hand.

"Anyway, just get onee-sama away from Tenten. I have a feeling that once that happens, everything will turn out all right." Naruto snapped his head up in surprise. Was she..._helping_ him? " And...don't tell onee-sama that I told you about this. I don't want her to hate me." The blond smiled and walked over to the younger girl. She stood shocked as he lightly rubbed her on top of the head, much like an older brother would do to his younger sister.

"Thank you, Hanabi-chan." She watched him go with a steadily growing blush, marveling at how good the simple action had felt. She could now understand a little of why her sister had fallen in love with such an idiot.

**oooooooooooooooooooooooo**

The people below him were a blur as he jumped through the rooftops at top speed, using every ounce of his remaining energy to get to Tenten's apartment as fast as he could. He hadn't even thought about placing one of his seals near her home, but he swore to himself that it'd be the first thing he did once he got a chance.

Cursing under his breath, he used the shunshin no jutsu to teleport himself a few dozen yards closer to his destination. His chakra was a bit low, but it was well worth it. He reached her apartment building in seconds, and after waiting another few seconds to catch his breath, he bolted up the stairs at top speed.

He didn't quite understand why he was rushing; if nothing had happened in the few months that Hinata had been living with them, there was a very small chance that something would happen now. It wasn't as if she'd suddenly try to kill Tenten or anything. Even if they were fighting, Hinata would never take it that far.

He knocked on her door in anxiousness, banging a little louder on the flimsy wooden entrance than he'd intended. Though he'd discerned that nothing would happen, he still felt a bit on edge for some reason; his instincts were rarely wrong, but in this case, they had to be. Naruto knocked on the door again, growing more and more impatient with each passing second.

"I'm coming, I'm coming!" he heard a muffled voice call from inside the apartment. The sound of three locks opening reached his ears, and when the door finally opened, he stared down into the shocked eyes of Tenten.

Neither one of them moved for all of ten seconds, both of them just staring at each other in a mixture of surprise and relief. Naruto's eyes slowly trailed downwards until they landed on her engorged stomach.

"He's gotten bigger," he remarked, noticing the bulge in her t-shirt. The jounin shook her head and rubbed her stomach, grunting at his statement.

"No, _she's_ gotten bigger." The blond laughed out loud, in turn causing Tenten to do the same. Just as quickly as she had started, the brunette stopped laughing once she realized exactly what she was doing. Narrowing her eyes, she placed her hand back on the doorknob and glared up at him. It was annoying how easily he'd managed to lower her defenses. Her frown deepened. She resolved not to let him sweet talk his way back into her bed like he wanted. "What do you want? I told you you're not welcome here." Rather than retort like she expected, he stepped forward and enveloped her in a tight hug, inadvertently pulling her off of her feet.

"I missed you." Both teenagers were shocked by his words. Tenten because she hadn't expected him to say them so bluntly, and Naruto because he hadn't expected to say them at all.

His original purpose had been to make Hinata leave, but once he'd laid eyes on the girl, he hadn't been able to keep his true feelings from coming out. Before he could get too comfortable, she placed her hands on his chest and pushed him away. To his surprise, tears were beginning to build up in the corners of her eyes, and she glared up at him with as much hatred as she could muster.

"Am I just supposed to hug you back and forget about the fact that you abandoned me again?! Tell you that everything's forgiven just because you came back?! Stop screwing around! If you don't have anything else to say, leave!" Naruto stared down at her with a small smile, pissing her off even more than she thought possible. "You think I'm joking?! Go away!"

"Is Hinata-chan here?" Largely taken aback by his question, Tenten glanced up to see that although the smile still remained on his face, his eyes had taken on a deathly serious look. She slowly nodded her head, unsure as to exactly what he wanted. He surprised her again by brushing past her and walking into her apartment, presumably in search of the Hyuuga.

"Hey! What are you doing?! Didn't I just tell you to leave?! Hey!" Unfortunately, her shouts fell on deaf ears. He walked into her bedroom and looked around, eyes scanning every corner of the room. When he didn't find Hinata, he turned around and headed towards the bathroom. On his way there, Tenten grabbed him roughly by the sleeve and attempted to pull him back towards the front door, only to be dragged along by the much stronger ANBU officer. "Naruto! Don't you hear me?! Get out!"

"Hinata-chan, are you in there?" Silence met his question, and after waiting another few seconds, he walked over to the last remaining room.

"Goddamnit, Naruto! Listen to me!" As if hearing her for the first time, he stopped and looked down at the heavily breathing girl. Sweat beaded her forehead from exertion, and her cheeks were flushed a light red with what he assumed to be anger.

"Tenten, you shouldn't be moving around so much. You're pregnant, you know." The jounin's jaw dropped open.

"Just whose fault do you think it is that I'm moving around at all?! What the hell do you want, anyway?!" Naruto sighed. Why was she being so difficult? He didn't remember Tenten being nearly this annoying before. "Well?!"

"Just trust me." The words were simple, but she couldn't think of any reason not to believe him. His eyes radiated nothing but sincerity; a fact that was both comforting and infuriating at the same time.

Rather than answer, she slowly released his arm, allowing him to continue on towards the kitchen. Unsurprisingly, Hinata stood in front of the stove, stirring what looked like a pot of soup.

"Hinata-chan." The girl jumped in surprise, simultaneously turning to look at him. When she saw who it was, her face gradually relaxed into a smile, and she reached around behind herself to untie her apron.

"Naruto-kun! What are you doing here? I told you to leave everything to me." Her voice was neither angry nor overly surprised, causing the blond to blink a few times in unsureness. Despite what he'd been told by Hanabi, Hinata just didn't seem like the type to intentionally deceive anyone.

If he thought about it, however, the way Tenten had been acting suddenly made a lot of sense; too much sense to disregard. He deeply cared for the Hyuuga, but in this situation, the mother of his baby would have to come first.

"Hinata-chan, can you do me a favor?" She tilted her head in curiosity, her smile widening just a little.

"Sure, what is it?"

"I want you to go home." Her smile froze. She slowly brought her hands down to her sides, apron still hanging loosely around her waist.

"Oh...okay. Well, I'll come back tomorrow and --"

"Hinata-chan." The girl's eyes slowly began to moisten, and she took a desperate step towards the blond.

"But...why?! What did I do?! I'm only trying to help!" Even as she pleaded with him, his expression didn't change.

"Please leave. At least for now." Large tears rolled down her cheeks, dripping off of her chin onto the cloth tied around her midsection. She lowered her head and took slow, mournful steps towards the kitchen's exit, loosening the apron enough so that it could fall to the floor on its own.

The blond watched her leave with barely contained sorrow. He absolutely hated himself for being so cruel towards one of his better friends, and promised to make it up to her in another way. What she'd said couldn't have been bad enough to deserve this, but at the same time, it was obviously enough to constantly put Tenten on edge. Although he didn't want to, it was something that had to be done.

As she left the large room, Tenten stood up from her seat on the couch in surprise.

"What's going on?" she asked, eyebrows furrowed in concern, "Are you going somewhere?" The glare that Hinata sent her almost caused the brunette to gasp out in fear. Hatred seemed to literally pour from her eyes, smothering the entire room in a swirl of loathing and anger. It was the same exact look she'd seen on the Hyuuga's face when she'd tried to kill her all those months ago.

She stood paralyized, eyes wide and fingers clenched in an effort to calm down. Whatever had happened between the two in kitchen, Hinata obviously thought that it was her fault. The smaller girl slowly walked through the already open door of her apartment, only to have it closed behind her by a mentally torn Naruto. Judging by his demeanor, he clearly hadn't noticed the glare.

"What the _hell_ did you do?!" Tenten shrieked, eyes still wide with fear. "This is why I wanted you to leave! Every time you show up something worse happens! If you'd have just minded your own goddamn business, then --"

"Why didn't you tell me you were afraid of Hinata-chan." The jounin's voice died in her throat. The small smile he'd had on his face since he'd arrive was long gone, instead being replaced by a dangerously angry frown. How had he found out? There was no possible way that Hinata would ever reveal their fight, and the only people who were around at the time were Hinata, the guards, and...

...Hanabi.

If she thought about it, the young Hyuuga _had_ to be the one to tell Naruto. She was certain that Hinata hadn't told her younger sister about coming to 'help' with the pregnancy, and knowing how much the genin admired her older sister, she'd eventually try to find out where she was staying. It made perfect sense.

"Don't try to act like you care now." The ANBU officer's eyes glared into hers, and he slowly began to walk in direction.

"Don't try to act like I care?! I _do_ care, but _you're_ the one pushing _me_ away! Every time I try to help or look out for you, you either insist that you're alright or tell me to leave! I can't understand you!" Tenten almost laughed in disbelief. Where the _fuck_ did he get off yelling at her like it was her fault?

"Oh, and I suppose _I'm_ the one who told you to leave me standing alone in the park like an idiot, crying my eyes out because you decided that you didn't want any part of _your_ baby!" Naruto's eyes wavered slightly, and he stopped momentarily to gaze at her.

"That was different." The jounin turned to face him, eyes emblazoned with rage.

"How? How is it different? Is it different because you say it is? What kind of bullshit logic is that?!"

"Stop trying to change the subject. I asked you why you didn't tell me about Hinata."

"I don't have to tell you anything. Just leave like you always do when things get tough." Tenten felt her heart jump when he began to approach her again, and she slowly backed up towards her room. "Stop it!"

She threw a punch towards his face, but to her surprise, he easily caught it without so much as a flinch. Before she could use her other hand, he also grabbed that one and shoved her against her room door, holding both of arms above her head using only one of his hands.

"Let me go!" She struggled against his grasp with all of her might, even going as far as using her legs to kick him. To counter this, Naruto pushed her closer against the door using his own body, effectively stopping all of her attacks.

"Why are you being so difficult?! Why can't you just answer one fucking question?!" Rather than answer, she bucked her body against his in an attempt to free herself, fighting against him with her last bit of remaining energy. She hated how helpless she felt underneath him; was this the result of not training for a few months, or was he always this much stronger than her? She paused momentarily to catch her breath, glaring into his eyes with as much hatred as she could muster.

To her complete surprise, the angry look on his face was gone. In it's place was an inexplicably blank one, and she noticed with a small amount of fear that he was beginning to look at her strangely.

"What?!" she spat, flinching a little as his eyes wandered over her face. She suddenly felt naked under his gaze, growing more and more uncomfortable with each passing second. Her eyes popped open in shock when he lowered his face towards hers and captured her lips in a rough, forceful kiss.

She screamed desperately into his mouth, but her cries were easily deafened by the presence of his lips. She struggled viciously against him for another few seconds, but she eventually quieted down and allowed him to kiss her, feeling tears begin to streak down her cheeks from the simple action. When he finally pulled away for a breath of air, she immediately began to break down into small sobs.

"I hate you," she simpered, lips still tingling and trembling from the kiss. Naruto looked down at her with that strange, blank gaze, panting just as hard as she was.

"I hate you too." He didn't quite understand why he'd done it himself. He'd been furious with her only a few minutes before, but then he'd made the mistake of allowing his eyes to wander over her body.

After noticing the powerful heaving of her chest and the deep red blush adorning her cheeks from all of the yelling, he hadn't been able to help himself. It also didn't help that she had her lightly curled hair hanging loosely around her shoulders, frazzled by their brief physical encounter. He hated that power she had over him -- the power to overload every one of his senses _without even trying_.

Their eyes met again, and despite her intense anger towards the blond, she couldn't help but want him to kiss her for a second time. Her wish was rewarded when he gently brushed his lips against hers, sending sparks all throughout her body. It was horribly, incredibly,_ inconceivably _annoying how easily he could calm her nerves and redirect her anger, but at that moment, she didn't give a damn. Although she wouldn't admit it, she'd missed him just as much -- _if not more_ -- than he'd missed her.

He gradually began to relax his grip on her arms, allowing her to drop and wrap them around his neck. She instantly took the chance to deepen the kiss, standing up on her toes and licking at his lips with her tongue. She moaned in pleasant surprise when he grabbed her around the hips and hoisted her up onto his waist, using the door behind her to brace them.

Naruto quickly became bored with simple kissing and broke the lip lock, deciding to attack the area between her ear and collarbone with his teeth and lips. Tenten sighed and cooed from his ministrations, tilting her head to the right to give him better access. He'd never done this to her before; or rather, she should say she didn't_ remember_ him doing this. His lips suddenly latched onto an especially sensitive part of her neck, and she squealed loudly when he began to suck on the smooth skin. Screw what he was doing before; this was ten times better.

She moaned in disappointment when he suddenly stopped, but her disgruntlement was quickly turned into joy when she felt his hands slide up the front of her shirt, cupping what he could of her now larger breasts in his hands. The teenager seemed to notice this as he glanced into her eyes with surprise.

"Are they..._bigger_?" he asked, eyebrows shooting into his forehead. Tenten only grinned and shrugged, idly rolling her hips against the thing pressing against her.

"Why don't you see for yourself." Naruto didn't have to be told twice. He easily lifted her off of the wall and made a beeline towards her couch, eagerly placing her on the slightly worn cushions. His hands immediately got to work pulling the t-shirt over her head, and just as he'd thought, her breasts were encased in a bra at least one size larger than it had been before. The jounin watched him gawk with an amused smile. It was almost cute how easily infatuated he was with her now larger assets. "Well?" she asked, fighting down her nervousness as best she could.

She was curious as to what he'd do with them first, but to her absolute shock, he bypassed them altogether and leaned her back on the chair. Hovering over her with a menacing smirk, he slipped his hand into her loose pants and went straight for her panties. No wonder he was the number one most surprising ninja.

A groan escaped her throat as he began to touch her, slipping a few fingers into her already moist vagina. He expertly toyed with her pussy, easing his fingers in and out at just the right pace -- slow enough for her to enjoy it, but fast enough for her orgasm to build up over time. It was strange for him to be so eager about having sex, but not at all unpleasant. Her eyes suddenly narrowed as she realized something important, and pushing him away, her dark brown eyes glared into his.

"You're a little _too_ good at this. You weren't screwing some slut while you were gone, were you?" If it wasn't for the fact that the question had literally come out of nowhere, he might've laughed. Instead, he leaned in again and placed a small peck on her lips, smirking when her eyes briefly closed to savor the kiss.

"Trust me, there's no way I'd be able to handle another woman. You're trouble enough." A smile lit up her face, inadvertently endearing herself to the blond even more. He didn't know why it had taken so long to notice, but now that he looked at her, Tenten really was beautiful. He couldn't find a single thing wrong with her physically; her eyes were bright, her smile was enlightening, her body was in perfect shape (though with a small bulge due to the baby), and her forehead was exactly the right size.

For the first time since they'd met, he actually considered the idea of spending the rest of his life with her.

"Naruto?" The teenager shook his head, looking down at the slightly concerned brunette. "Are you alright? You kind of zoned out on me." He grinned mischievously and began to work on the girl once again, instantly eliciting another moan from her lips.

"You should worry about yourself first." It positively amazed her how quickly things had turned around. They'd gone from fighting to fucking in approximately fifteen minutes, allowing their lust to take reign over the majority of their brains. Not that she particularly minded. Sure, she'd broken her resolve, but she'd tried! It wasn't her fault that Naruto didn't know when to give up, right?

It was quite possible that they'd once again be at each other's throats once their sexual appetite was satiated, but somehow, she doubted it. Although they weren't using words, they were communicating on a much deeper level than either of them could ever comprehend. Her last coherent thought was that whoever had come up with the famous words_ 'Make love, not war'_ was a fuckin' genius.

**ooooooooooooooooooooooo**

"Tenten, you ready to go?" Naruto called, slipping on his ninja sandals. He fidgeted impatiently from his place in front of her front door, already wanting to go.

Almost a month had passed since he'd asked Hinata to leave, and during that time, Tenten's stomach had grown exponentially. The brunette had joked that it was because of all the semen he'd pumped into her over the last thirty days, but both knew that it was impossible to hide the pregnancy any longer. After all, she was already nearing the end of her fifth month.

Together with the Hokage, the three of them had managed to coordinate a time to break the news to all of their friends at once. The woman had been nice enough not to assign missions to those on the guest list, and she'd even rented out a nice restaurant near the Hokage Tower. Ironically, it was the same exact restaurant they'd eaten at a few months ago with Sasuke and Sakura.

A small smirk appeared on his face as he recalled the memory. Their friends had been thoroughly shocked; and that was an understatement. If he remembered correctly, Shizune had fainted, Kiba had choked on his own drink, and Shikamaru'd nearly swallowed his cigarette. Unfortunately, his mirth only lasted for a few seconds; he and Tenten were immediately bombarded with shouts and questions, most of them asking about how they could be so stupid.

It'd taken well over an hour, but with help from the Hokage, they'd been able to calm everyone down enough so that they could properly explain the situation. Their friends still weren't happy with what had happened, but they were at least supportive. In fact, once they'd heard how everything had happened, the girls (minus Hinata, who hadn't shown up) had swarmed the weapons mistress with plans for baby showers and shopping for baby clothes.

The guys, unfortunately, were a little less understanding. Sasuke, Chouji, Sai, Kakashi, and Jiraiya were the only ones who hadn't been overly upset by the news. He could sort of understand why most of the males were angry, but Shikamaru's anger had literally blind sided him. According to the strategist himself, he was disappointed that Naruto hadn't come to him for help. They were friends after all, and having been through a particularly tough pregnancy with Kurenai, the jounin could have given him an ample amount of advice on what to expect.

All in all, though, things had turned out much better than they'd hoped.

Tenten slowly walked out of her bedroom, holding a hand over her enlarged stomach. She wore a tight-fitting, dark, long-sleeved shirt and a pair of dark pants, not bothering to hide her pregnant appearance anymore. Now that their friends knew, there really was no point; everyone else would find out eventually, either from word of mouth or simply by seeing her walking down the street. Smiling, Naruto reached an arm out and wrapped her in a one-armed hug.

"You look beautiful." Tenten scowled up at him.

"You're just saying that." His grin widening, he nonchalantly shrugged his shoulders.

"True." She playfully swung her purse at him, pouting when he managed to maneuver just out of reach of the leather bag. "But I also mean it." The serious look in his eyes caused her to blush, and she shyly averted her gaze towards her feet.

"You'd think I'd be used to your corny lines by now," she mumbled, slipping on her sandals. Standing up, she coughed lightly before looping her arm through his and walking out the door.

As they walked arm in arm down the street, they received dozens upon dozens of shocked and curious looks from civilians and shinobi alike, every single one of them unable to believe what they were seeing. Tenten, _the famous weapons mistress of Konoha_, was pregnant.

Those who knew of her track record with kids and small animals alike shuddered in pity for the poor soul that would be born into the world as her child, and others were simply surprised that someone had actually managed to get close enough to the girl to impregnate her.

It was no secret to anyone that getting a date with the kunoichi was next to impossible. Hell, you'd have a better chance of escaping from Orochimaru with your anal virginity intact than to even get a cup of tea with the usually dead serious jounin. Not one person among the crowd could figure out how the two had managed to hook up, let alone have a baby. No matter how they looked at it, Naruto and Tenten didn't match at all.

They were both pleased to see that there weren't nearly as many angry or appalled stares as they'd expected, and those that _did_ glare at them were either old buzzards stuck in the past or teenagers around their age who'd had a crush on one or both of them.

Despite the wide variety of opinions, they could all agree on one thing; whatever baby they produced would be the scariest motherfucker who ever lived.

"So, were you worried about what everyone would say once they found out about us?" she joked, gripping his arm tighter against her chest. Naruto laughed nervously, scratching the back of his head in a way she'd inadvertently become accustomed to.

"To be honest, I was more worried about myself than anyone else." Tenten laughed again, finding the pained look on his face absolutely hilarious.

"What, just because the Hokage beat you up last time? That's only one person, and I promised that I'd protect you from Sakura. If worse came to worse, you could have used me as a human meat shield." The blond lifted an eyebrow at the girl walking by his side.

"I don't know whether to be amused or worried that you'd actually hop in the way of Sakura-chan's fist. That's like asking for an instant abortion." The kunoichi laughed harder. If there was one thing she could say about their strange relationship, it was that it was never boring.

With Hinata out of the picture, the two of them had finally been able to work through most of their issues starting from the first night of drunken sex. It had taken nearly an entire week of talking, arguing, and admittedly sex, but they'd both realized that most of their problems had been simple misunderstandings.

The only thing that bugged Naruto was that she _still_ wouldn't tell him exactly what the Hyuuga had said to her to make her so afraid, claiming that it was something she wasn't yet ready to discuss. Still, they'd both been pleasantly surprised to learn that they had much more in common than they'd originally thought.

"Isn't the house around here?" Naruto asked, looking around at the surrounding scenery. It was a fairly unpopulated area on the outskirts of the village, surrounded by droves of trees and tall grass. As far as he could see, there were only four houses in the wooded clearing; all of which looked dilapitated and abandoned. Tenten reached into her purse and produced a small slip of paper, glancing over it before pointing towards the house a few dozen feet away.

"It's that one! She said it'd be the house with the apple tree in the front yard." Following her finger, the blond's face dropped. While he hadn't been expecting much in the first place, the house that stood before them was simply hideous. The paint was nearly gone, the yard was unkempt, the apple tree was half dead, and the place looked like it could fall apart at any moment. He turned his disappointed gaze on the excited girl to his left.

"Ne, Tenten. Are you stupid?" The brunette puffed out her cheeks, turning her dark brown eyes on him in obvious annoyance.

"Shut up! Real estate in Konoha isn't cheap you know, and this is the only place in the village we could buy without a loan!"

"...Why don't we just take out a loan, then? Couldn't we get a better place if we did that? Besides, this whole neighborhood is abandoned! Did you ever think that it was empty for a reason?"

"No! A loan would just add to our financial problems, and after doing some math, I realized that we'd barely have enough money left over every month for the bare necessities -- let alone a child." The blond still looked unconvinced, so she poked out her lip and widened her eyes in an attempt to win him over another way. "Please? Let's just look at the inside first, and if you still don't like it, I promise we can go somewhere else."

Naruto frowned down at her. Was she really trying to use cuteness to get her way? Tenten was a lot of things -- gorgeous, sexy, strong -- but cute wasn't one of them. Still, he rolled his eyes and began to walk towards the house. He'd let her think she won this time.

"Fine." The jounin's face lit up, and she grabbed his arm and dragged him towards the broken down house. They reached the front door in a matter of seconds, after knocking a few times on the front door, Tenten slowly turned the knob and opened it.

"Excuse me? Is anyone in here?" she called, poking her head inside the house. No sooner had the words left her mouth did a brown-haired woman pop out from one of the adjacent rooms, causing the girl to blink a little in surprise. She'd barely been able to sense her presence; something that was slightly shameful to her as a shinobi.

"Ah! Uzumaki-san, right?! Come in, come in! You're right on time!" Naruto lifted an eyebrow at the woman's uncanny exuberance. At first glance, the woman didn't seem like the type to have such a cheerful personality. She looked to be in her early thirties judging by the minute wrinkles around her eyes and mouth. A pair of horn-rimmed glasses were perched prominently on her nose, and the simple, dark kimono she wore gave her an air of maturity. In the back of his mind, he wondered if all real estate agents dressed so formally. Somehow, though, he felt as if it was just her.

He stepped into the house and looked around, finding the place to be in much better shape than he'd thought it would be. The wallpaper was dingy with age and mold, but if the walls were solid enough, they could easily either paint over or remove the paper altogether. A simple, dark wood stairway leading to the second floor rested in the corner, and two doors were embedded into the opposite wall.

"I'm Kimiko, your real estate agent! Hokage-sama says you're looking for a place to buy, and there's no better place than here! This way, this way! I'll show you around the house!" The real estate agent seemed to literally bounce towards the door, and shooting each other unsure glances, the shinobi followed her into the next room.

"Here's the kitchen! It's really, really dirty right now, but I'm sure you'll have no trouble cleaning it up! It comes with a stove and refridgerator, too, so you can save a bit of money on appliances!" They walked through the kitchen towards the door in front of them. "Through this door is the dining room! It's connected to the living room, and if you go through the door to your left, it'll take you back to the main hallway!"

Tenten's smile was threatening to split her face in half as she was shown the house. Except for the excessive amounts of dust and dirt marring the walls and floors, it looked to be in pretty good shape. Even Naruto had to admit that it was better than what he'd been expecting. After viewing the downstairs bathroom, the couple followed the woman up the small staircase leading to the second floor.

"The second floor is the best part of the house. All three of the bedrooms are located up here, along with another bathroom in the master bedroom," the woman said, opening the door to the largest room. Both shinobi nearly gasped at the size of it. It was bigger than both of their rooms put together; though that wasn't saying much. "It's the perfect size for newlyweds such as yourselves!" The ninja froze.

Newlyweds? Them? They exchanged surprised glances, unable to believe the insinuation of the real estate agent.

"Uh...we're not married," Tenten mumbled, feeling a bit embarrassed by the statement. Kimiko too looked embarrassed, and dipped her head in apology.

"I'm sorry! I just sort of assumed since..." her eyes dropped to the kunoichi's stomach for a split second, immediately revealing her train of thought to the couple. "It's completely my fault! Though I'm sure it doesn't bother you since you're dating with that purpose in mind, right?" Once again, the teens looked at each other. Scratching the back of his head, Naruto put on a small grin.

"We're not really dating, either." This time, the woman looked positively shocked. Rather than say anything else to potentially make things more awkward, she turned to lead them back towards the hallway.

"Ah...well, let's move on, shall we?" Although she was trying to change the subject, the awkwardness among them remained; most of it coming from Naruto and Tenten. The two of them barely spoke for the rest of the tour, only answering with a simple 'yes' or 'no' when asked a question. By the time they'd finished viewing the house, the uncomfortable atmosphere surrounding them had become unbearable, so the real estate agent wisely excused herself claiming that she had another appointment on the other side of the village.

"So...what do you think?" Tenten asked, glancing at the blond from the corner of her eye as they walked back towards the inner part of the village. Naruto shrugged lightly, placing his hands behind his head.

"It's fine with me. Other than it being really dirty, I didn't see much wrong with it." The girl smiled, causing the boy at her side to do the same. He loved her smile. Her _real_ smile, anyway. He'd been lucky enough to see a lot of it recently, and took great pride in knowing that he was the one who put it there. If he had it his way, he'd make her smile forever.

The shinobi blinked at this train of thought. That was the same thing he used to think about Sakura only a few months ago, and his eyes widening even more, he realized that he hadn't been thinking about the medic-nin at all since he and Tenten had started living together again.

Frowning resolutely, he grabbed the surprised brunette's hand and focused on his nearest seal, using the Hiraishin no Jutsu to transport them closer to the village. They bounced from the outskirts to the center of the village, stopping only every second or so to locate the next seal.

"What are you doing?!" she gasped , trying to catch her breath after being pulled around for what seemed like hours. It was her first time experiencing the Hiraishin no Jutsu first hand. She looked around to see that they were on top of the Hokage Monument; more specifically, they were on top of the Fourth's head. Naruto placed his hands on her shoulders and turned her towards him.

"Tenten, will you go out with me?" The girl could only stare up at him. Her eyes were wide, her mouth was open, and her arms hung limp at her sides. Out of all the questions that had run through her head, that was one of the last things she expected him to ask her. Rather than answer, she launched herself at him full force and planted a deep, wet kiss directly onto his lips. "So, I guess that's a yes?" he asked when she pulled away long enough for him to speak. She looked up at him with the most venomous glare she could manage.

"Cheat on me and I'll kill you." Smirking, he leaned down and brushed his lips against hers, immediately wiping the angry look from her face.

"I wouldn't dream of it."

**AN: Probably a lot of mistakes in here, but I had to post so you all know what's going on c: Hiatus from both stories and the site until further notice :c **


	10. Chapter 10

**Illegitimate Love**

**Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto.**

**Chapter 10**

Tenten wiped at her brow with the back of her hand, barely suppressing a tired sigh. No matter how many times she wiped the sweat away, more and more of the liquid seemed to roll down into her eyes in a never ending stream, making her wince as it burned her eyes.

"Tenten-chan, you should take a break; let Sakura and I finish the rest," Ino urged, reaching for the sponge in the brunette's hand. The three of them were currently doing their best to clean up the kitchen in their newly bought home, and were actually nearly finished with the room. All that was left was to scrub the refridgerator and floor.

At first, she'd been adamantly against having her friends help. She wasn't quite ready to forgive Sakura for being such a bitch a couple of months earlier, and Ino _really_ didn't seem like the cleaning type. However, after spending nearly an entire day on her knees (Cleaning, asshole), she quickly realized that doing everything herself would be a little harder than she had imagined (Read: Impossible).

She didn't mind leaving the general cleaning to Naruto and his clones, but when it came to cleaning important things like the kitchen, bathrooms, and pantry, the man was hopeless. Reluctantly, and with her boyfriend's constant nagging, she eventually worked up the courage to ask her friends for help -- both of whom were more than happy to comply.

"I couldn't ask you to do that! It's bad enough I asked you two for help at all!" Sakura and Ino exchanged amused glances.

"Of course you can; you're pregnant. You're allowed to be a little selfish every now and then." The blond paused momentarily. "I still can't get over the fact that you and Naruto are together, though; and having a _baby_ no less! If an idiot like _him_ can get this far, it gives me high hopes for the future!" Frowning, the weapon's mistress glared over at Ino.

"Naruto's _not_ an idiot. He can be a little oblivious sometimes, but he's one of the most honest and thoughtful people I know." The two rookie nine girls once again exchanged amused smirks.

"Defending your man?" Sakura teased, grin widening when Tenten's face took on a noticeably red tinge. Deciding not to tease her fellow jounin any further, the medic-nin nodded her agreement. "You're right, though. If you told me back then in the Academy that he'd turn out the way he did, I'd never believe it. Now, take a seat! You can't be on your feet so much during this period of the pregnancy."

The kunoichi grunted but did as she was told, taking a seat in one of the kitchen chairs they'd brought from her apartment. Luckily, most of her stuff was in pretty good shape (as compared to his, anyway), so the two of them had been able to save a fortune on furniture and appliances. Surprisingly, most of their money had gone into cleaning products and decoration.

The blond kunoichi glanced over her shoulder at Tenten as she began to wipe down the fridge. "So? What're you gonna do after you have the baby? Are you planning on becoming a shinobi again?" The brunette frowned. With all that had been happening lately, she hadn't had a chance to really think about it.

Not only did they have to move in to their new home, but the two of them had to move out of their old apartments. Sure, it didn't sound like a big deal on the surface, but canceling their leases and convincing (forcing) their landlords to give them their security deposits back had been more than a headache.

According to their contracts (which neither of them remembered signing, seeing as how they were only around six years old when they'd moved in), they were required to submit both a three month notice and a payment of 25,000 yen -- 100,000 yen for Naruto's place.

Thankfully, the problem had been easily solved with a handful of kunai and a moderate amount of killing intent. Which in retrospect was pretty funny, since being threatened by a bulbously round pregnant women was high on the list of shit that didn't happen everyday.

"I don't know yet; I'd like to return to active duty, of course, but there's no telling how much time I'll have to put into being a mother. Besides, I still have to discuss it with Naruto. We made a promise to talk everything through before making any big decisions."

Ino giggled under her breath, using a manicured hand to cover her mouth. "Why don't you guys just get married? You already act like you are anyway."

When Tenten's cheeks once again took on a red tinge, the medic-nin rolled her eyes at her best friend. "Leave her alone, Ino. She's probably still getting used to the whole dating thing. Didn't he only ask you out last month?" The weapon's mistress slowly nodded her head, confirming the girl's statement. "See? How can you expect her to jump right into marriage so soon?"

The blond curiously titled her head. "Still, wouldn't it be better for the baby if they got married?"

"What makes you think that? The only difference between marriage and dating is a piece of paper."

"Yeah, but that piece of paper makes things easier on the couple. Statistics show that married couples have higher incomes, live longer lives, consume less alcohol, and have all around better health."

"But where did those stats come from? You can't believe everything you read, Ino."

"It's better than believing what comes out of that wide forehead of yours."

"What's that? I thought I heard the snorting of a pig."

"Why you -- hey, where did Tenten-chan go?"

Outside, Tenten let loose an annoyed sigh. Once those two got into it, it was impossible to stop them; especially when they had an audience. That was another one of the reasons she didn't really want them helping her. She lifted her arms high into the air and stretched, taking a deep breath of the sweet smelling fresh air around her.

Out of all the things she loved about their new home, the location had to be its best feature. Since it wasn't in the heart of the village like her old apartment, there was ample amounts of space and trees surrounding their two story house. The scenery admittedly wasn't that great at the moment, but they had plenty of time to work on the landscape. After all, this was place was theirs; if things went as she wished, they'd be able to live here until they died. Which may or may not be a long time, given the increasingly low life expectancy of a shinobi. She lightly coughed into her hand, feeling a slight tickle in the back of her throat.

"Are you okay, Ten-chan?" The kunoichi turned in the direction of the voice to see five Narutos staring down at her from the roof. Before she could answer, one of them easily hopped down and walked over to her, eyes worriedly checking her over for any sign of pain or injury. She rolled her eyes at his actions but smiled regardless. Even if he was being overly cautious about every little thing, she was glad that he cared.

"I'm fine, just taking a short break." His face fell into relief for a second, but the worried look instantly returned a moment later.

"You aren't pushing yourself too hard, are you? It'll be October soon, and I don't want you to catch a cold because you didn't get enough rest. Actually, maybe it'll be better if you --" His concerns were immediately silenced when she leaned up on her toes and planted a light kiss on his lips.

"I'm fine, okay?" Staring into her eyes, Naruto couldn't help but smile back down at his girlfriend. _His_ girlfriend. Somehow, he liked the sound of that. He'd often heard civilians and shinobi alike bragging about their boyfriends or girlfriends, but due to his exceptionally low amount of experience in the area, he could never understand the appeal of being owned by someone else. Even when he was crushing on Sakura he'd never thought much about her belonging to him or anything.

Suddenly feeling mischievous, he easily maneuvered himself behind her and wrapped the girl in a tight hug, leaning his face down into the crook of her neck. His grin widened when he felt her lean her weight more heavily against him, and he swore he heard her sigh as he lightly massaged her stomach.

"Are you sure? I just finished setting the bed up half an hour ago, and I'm a little curious as to whether or not it can support both of our weight." She could practically feel him grinning into her neck, and scoffing under her breath at his suggestive tone, Tenten lightly jabbed him in the stomach with her elbow.

"Stop it, Ino and Sakura are still inside." Annoyingly, that only egged him on further. His hands slid up her sun dress to cup her now very large breasts, eliciting a light gasp from the brunette's lips. They'd become especially sensitive since her pregnancy, and even the lightest touch was enough to send pleasurable sparks throughout her body.

"So? It's not like we're keeping our relationship a secret anymore," he mumbled into her neck, inadvertently tickling the tender area. His hands once again slowly slid from her breasts down to her stomach, unable to resist massaging the engorged area. A small smile flickered across Tenten's face as she watched his hands move around on her dress-covered belly.

"She's not going to kick again just because you touch my stomach," the girl grinned, placing her hands over his much larger ones. Even though she'd been telling him the same thing for over two weeks now, the blond still insisted on rubbing her stomach every chance he got, desperate to feel another sign of the fact that their baby was, indeed, alive.

Not that she minded, of course. She loved watching his face as he tenderly rubbed her belly, unable to resist smirking at the astonished, concentrated look on his face. He always looked so amazed at the fact that his child was inside of her stomach, despite the fact that she'd been pregnant for nearly seven months now. She couldn't imagine what his face would look like when she finally _did_ give birth to their daughter.

After a few more minutes of gentle rubbing, Tenten reluctantly pulled herself from Naruto's arms, turning around to place another peck on his obviously disappointed lips. "You'll never finish repairing the roof if you play around with me all day. Now, shoo; I need to go back in and help the girls finish with kitchen."

She watched amused as the blond hung his head and poked out his lip, marveling at how easily he could shift moods and expressions. It was almost hard to believe that this was the same boy who'd been feeling her up only a couple of minutes before. She was once again surprised when he suddenly smiled and kissed her again before hopping back up to the roof, leaving her standing alone in the yard with wide eyes and blushing cheeks.

--

"Are you sure, Ten-chan? I don't _have_ to take this mission, and I really do think it'd be best if I stayed with you for a couple more weeks; or at least until your cold goes away." Pulling his fox mask down over his face, Tenten shook her head and smiled.

"I'll be fine. Besides, if you don't work, how can we pay the bills?" The blond grunted under his breath, large shoulders drooping a bit as he failed to come up with a suitable comeback. He really couldn't argue her point; both of their bank accounts were in the red, and if he went another month without working, it was quite possible that they'd be kicked out of their new home -- or left starving, which was an option Naruto refused to allow.

"Can I at least have a goodbye kiss?" The girl scowled up at him, annoyance practically dripping off of every feature of her face. They'd been going through this same exact routine for over ten minutes now, and quite frankly, she was getting tired of it.

"For the last time, _no_; what will we do if you catch my cold? Just leave already!" she whined, lightly pushing him out of the door -- but not before being dragged into another hug by the overprotective ANBU officer.

"I...I'll miss you." He winced behind his mask at his cowardice, hoping she didn't notice the slight pause in his statement. Although he was ashamed to admit it, he had yet to say those three coveted words to her; the three words that every girl in love supposedly wanted to hear -- according to Jiraiya, anyway. His fears were put to rest when she reluctantly returned the hug, leaning her head against his cloak covered chest with a sigh.

"I know, I know, I'll miss you too. Now go!" Matching her sigh with one of his own, Naruto stepped back and performed a few handseals, using the hiraishin no jutsu to teleport himself out of their home.

Not even five seconds after he'd left, Tenten found that she really did miss him. Of course, given the unhealthy amount of time they'd spent together recently, it was to be expected. According to the blond himself, he'd be gone for a minimum of a week; and that was if everything went according to plan, which it rarely ever did on ANBU level missions. Sniffling for the hundredth time that morning, the brunette wobbled into the kitchen to clean up what was left of their breakfast.

--

Elsewhere in the village, the jinchuuriki sprinted towards the Hokage tower at literally breakneck speed, deciding to conserve his chakra until he found out what the mission was actually about. The Hokage had been unusually secretive about what he'd be required to do, and unusually secretive about who he'd be doing it with.

Not to say that he didn't trust her, but the godaime had a well-known reputation for being fairly mischievous -- especially when it came to him. As his mind cycled through the possible schemes and tricks his foster mother could employ, he failed to notice the dark-haired teen screaming for him to stop.

"...amnit, Naruto, slow the hell down!"

Finally hearing the person behind him, the blond blinked and skidded to a stop, turning to greet a slightly out of breath Sasuke. "Oh, Sasuke, what's up?" he asked, seemingly unaware of the teen's fatigue.

The Uchiha took a few moments to catch his breath before shooting a displeased glare towards his rival. "What's up?! I've been screaming for you to stop for the past two minutes, and all you have to say is 'what's up'?!"

Naruto sheepishly shrugged his shoulders, and although his friend couldn't see it, he put on a mildly apologetic grin. "Sorry, I was too busy thinking about Tenten, the baby, and this super secret mission Baa-chan's going to send me on today."

Sasuke softened his glare, dark eyes turning from smoldering hatred to childish curiosity. "Super secret mission? That's funny, I'm on my way to the Hokage tower for the same reason. She hasn't said anything other than that it's outside of the Fire Country and that I'd be working with three other shinobi. I'm guessing you're one of them," he murmured, face scrunching up in obvious displeasure.

"Hey! What's that look for?! I'm your senpai in the ANBU corps, so you should be _honored_ to have the great Uzumaki-sama accompanying you for your first out of country mission! Remember, you've only been an official ANBU officer for two weeks; that means I'm automatically higher in the chain of command!" the blond bragged, puffing out his chest.

"Maybe, but it doesn't mean you're any better than I am." Before the blond could react, Sasuke smirked and pulled down his weasel mask, easily hopping over to the next roof as he did so.

"Arrogant bastard..." Naruto mumbled, quickly following behind them. They reached the Hokage Tower in just under a minute, teleporting into the woman's office with practiced eased. To their surprise their remaining two teammates were already waiting for them, and with a frown hidden by his own fox mask, Naruto easily the identities of their two fellow officers;

Neji and Lee.

"It's about time you got here, Naruto," the Godaime scowled, glaring at him from over her tightly threaded fingers.

The blond turned his attention away from Tenten's teammates to pout at his surrogate mother from behind his mask. "Hey, no fair! How come I get in trouble but Sasuke doesn't?! We arrived at the same time!"

Tsunade nodded and conceded his point. "True, but only because you got in his way." When Naruto didn't answer, Neji snorted under his breath in disgust.

"Typical." The air in the room noticeably dropped ten degrees as the jinchuuriki turned.

"What's that supposed to mean?" he asked, shooting a glare towards the Hyuuga.

"If you must know, I was referring to your increasingly irresponsible behavior. For someone who wants to be the Hokage, you're sure doing your best to make a mess of things."

Annoyed, Naruto turned pleading eyes upon the slug sannin. "Do I really have to go on a mission with _them_?" he whined.

"Yes. You four are amongst my strongest ANBU officers, and this mission will require the use of not only your greatest strengths, but your teamwork as well. I have faith that you all will be able to put aside your differences and work together for the good of Konoha." The four teenagers glanced amongst themselves, a mixture of anger and reluctance obvious in their demeanors. Despite the Hokage's words, they all knew that this wasn't going to end well.

Barely holding in a sigh of annoyance, Sasuke turned towards the equally annoyed woman. "What is our mission, exactly?"

Tsunade pulled a thick manilla envelope from her desk and handed it to the raven-haired teen, grateful that at least one of the young men had a calm head on his shoulders. "Your mission is to retrieve a scroll that was recently stolen from us. The culprit is believed to be from Amegakure," she said, holding up a photograph of a beautiful young woman. "Since we're not on necessarily bad terms with them, try not to kill anyone. However, if the situation looks bad, don't hesitate to take any actions you need to get the scroll and get out. This is an A-ranked mission, as they will undoubtedly have a few dozen ninja guarding the building the object is believed to be in."

Naruto barely managed to suppress a gasp. While she couldn't compare with Tenten, the kunoichi was easily one of the hottest women he'd ever seen in his life -- and that was saying something, considering the amount of traveling he'd done with Jiraiya; also known as the seeker of beautiful women. Of course, he'd never tell Tenten about his many run-ins with the most beautiful women in the shinobi world. Especially not while she was still pregnant and hormonally imbalanced.

The four of them bowed and exited the large office, missing the exasperated frown on the Hokage's face. She'd be lying if she said that she wasn't worried about them. She was tired of the animosity between Naruto, Lee, and Neji, and was hoping that this mission would give them a chance to reconcile and become friends friends. She hated seeing Naruto, a boy who didn't have many people in his life to begin with, lose a couple of really good friends over a misunderstanding.

Placing her head in her hands, she said a silent prayer to Kami-sama, hoping that if nothing else they wouldn't kill each other.

Outside of the village walls, the four ANBU officers sped through the trees towards Amegakure, an awkward silence developing among them. No one wanted to speak for fear of jeopardizing the mission with their own personal problems, and feeling much like a fourth wheel, Sasuke let loose a tired sigh. It was obvious after a whole day of travel that the other men in his squad wouldn't do anything on their own.

"Before we get into enemy territory, maybe we should work out the problems you three seem to have with each other," he offered, knowing full well that things would come to blows before this mission was over.

Neji, leading the group, glanced over his shoulder at the former traitor with an annoyingly smug smirk. "Problems? I have no problems. I believe it's Uzumaki that has the problem."

A spike of demonic chakra from his left caused him to groan. Why him? Why had Tsunade chosen _him_ of all people to be the mediator? Without even using his sharingan, he'd easily been able to determine the woman's motives. It was just too much of a coincidence to send the four of them out on a mission together, despite knowing of the intense hatred Neji, Lee, and Naruto had for one another.

"_I_ have the problem?!" Naruto exclaimed, voice nearly squeaking with anger. "If I remember correctly, you were the ones who attacked me for no good fucking reason!"

Lee, speaking for the first time that day, turned what Sasuke assumed to be a hate-filled scowl upon the jinchuuriki. "Only because you hurt Tenten." The Uchiha could literally see his best friend's jaw drop behind his mask.

"So that gives you the right to attack me? What Tenten and I do is our business; you don't have the right to intrude on our relationship. I've been really fucking nice to you by not telling Tenten about what you've done, but if you want, we can see exactly how she feels about your 'concern.'" Sasuke lifted his eyebrows in mild surprise. For an idiot, Naruto had put a relatively good argument together. He turned his head towards the other two shinobi in his squad, eager to hear what they had to say to that.

"What gives you the right to say something like that to us? We've been her teammates and friends for over six years, and you've only been her boyfriend for a month. Do you think that automatically gives you the right to do whatever you wish just because you're dating her?!" the Hyuuga seethed, his voice growing louder and louder with each sentence.

"I'm not saying that I have more power than you._ I'm_ just saying that you should get the full story before you decide to sucker punch someone out of nowhere." Sasuke nodded his head, conceding to both points without picking a side. The two groups were making great points, and if he didn't have first hand knowledge of the situation, it'd be impossible to figure out who was right and who was wrong.

Finding his argument utterly ridiculous, Lee choked out a small laugh, his voice becoming uncharacteristically cynical. "So are you saying that you did not hurt Tenten? Are you saying that you had nothing to do with her tears?"

"No. Look, I'm not perfect, okay? I make mistakes just like every fucking body else. I regret making Tenten cry, but the only thing I can do is apologize and try to make it up to her. What else do you want from me? Huh? Do you want me to tell her to abort the baby and forget that all of this ever happened? Or maybe you'd like me to push her down a set of stairs and tell her to fuck off instead?"

Shortly after the words left his mouth, a lightning fast fist embedded itself in his jaw, sending him flying down towards the ground at a breathtaking speed. He hit the ground with a sickening thud before rolling a few yards along the grass, head spinning the entire time. Luckily, he'd been able to direct some of his chakra to his cheek before the blow had fully connected and was able to parry some of the damage. Unfortunately, that didn't help his crash landing at all.

Standing up on shaky legs, he lifted his eyes to see both Neji and Lee staring down at him from the treetops, obvious anger radiating from their bodies. He wiped at the small amount of blood dripping from the corner of his lip, and feeling the orange-sized knot that had already begun to grow on his jaw, he shot the two of them his most menacing glare.

Yep, they were dead.

Before they could blink, he was on them. Using the Shunshin no jutsu in combination with a small bit of Kyuubi's chakra, he teleported directly in front of them and returned the punches, sending them flying just like he was barely a minute ago. His punches probably hadn't hurt as much as Lee's, but it was still pretty damn effective if he didn't so himself.

Watching from a safe distance away, Sasuke groaned. He knew this would happen. Just going by the hatred-filled atmosphere during the mission debriefing, he'd easily been able to determine that a fight was probable -- if not inevitable. He was just glad that he'd had the foresight to address the problem early.

The three shinobi pounded mercilessly on each other, fists flying, legs swinging, and blood dripping every which way. Despite the fact that he was outnumbered two to one, Naruto was surprisingly holding his own. Sure, he was taking quite a few blows, but his healing ability pretty much made up for that. From his vantage point in the trees, it looked like the blond was actually beginning to win! Stamina always beat out skill and strength, it seemed.

Still, though, he couldn't allow them to get beaten up too badly. They still had a mission to complete, and he wasn't planning on using the whole week to get it done. As a matter of fact, he was planning to finish it in a mere three days -- counting the time it'd take to travel to and from Amegakure.

With a reluctant sigh, he hopped down from his branch and walked over to the fighting men. "Alright, alright, let's stop here. You've all beaten on each other more than enough, and I think that --"

Before he could finish his sentence, a simultaneous punch from both Naruto and Lee caught him squarely on both cheeks, sending him face first to the ground. Both men froze as they realized in horror what they had done. They watched in barely contained fear as Sasuke slowly stood to his feet, an angry, psychotic smile adorning his normally impassive face.

"You just _had_ to bring me into it, didn't you?" he chuckled, sharingan activating on its own. The ANBU officers exchanged fearful glances, the same thought permeating throughout both of their minds.

_We are so, __**so**__ fucked._

The screams of the men could be heard for miles, and if not for the heroic efforts of Neji in pulling the angry Uchiha off of Naruto and Lee, it was quite possible that Sasuke would have once again become a nukenin.

--------

"Ungh...Lee, it's my turn to have the ice," Naruto groaned, holding his ribs in pain. Nearly twelve hours after the second Uchiha massacre, the blond was still in pain; something that was unheard of considering his insane healing ability. He grabbed the icepack from Lee's outstretched hand, sighing in relief as he pressed the cold device against his bruised side.

Being the one who had sustained the least amount of injuries from the fight, Sasuke strode up to the groaining shinobi with his mask in hand. "We need to get moving. You've already wasted half a day fighting over nothing, and the other half healing your injuries." All three shinobi turned to glare at the Uchiha.

"Whose fault do you think it is that we're injured in the first place?!" Neji snipped, holding his cheek with his hand. Sasuke shrugged and slipped on his mask.

"Your fault. You shouldn't have gotten me involved." With that, he took off to the trees, leaving a still pissed off group in his wake. With a little help from Neji and Lee, Naruto stood to his feet, groaning at the intense pain in his right leg. Goddamn Sasuke and his goddamn fireball techniques. Using fire was totally cheating; especially since he still hadn't mastered using water jutsu yet.

"Come on, he's leaving us behind," Neji muttered, hopping off after the Uchiha. Lee soon followed, and after getting a grip on his pain, Naruto also took to the trees.

They flew through the forest at a rapid (albeit staggered) pace, hoping to make it to the border of Ame before nightfall. The sooner they got there, the sooner they could be on their way home; and to be honest, Naruto was already going through Tenten withdrawals. He loved seeing her smile, and that was why he was hoping to smooth things over with her less than pleased teammates.

After spending a few quiet minutes staring at the backs of his girlfriend's teammates, he let loose a tired sigh. "So, listen," the blond started, coughing lightly in an attempt to keep his nerve, "I don't particularly care whether or not you guys forgive me. I'd rather you guys stay my friends, but if you don't want to, hey; there's nothing I can do about it. However, don't take it out on Tenten."

All three ANBU officers looked back at Naruto in a mixture of surprise and curiosity. "What do you mean?" Lee asked, ducking under a branch. "We would never blame Tenten for this."

The jinchuuriki's snorted loudly at his response. "No? Well, when was the last time you've seen her? Have you even bothered to ask how _she_ felt about the situation?" The deafening silence told him all that he needed to know. "Tenten misses you guys. She's told me on more than one occasion that you two are like her brothers, and knowing what it's like to not have any friends or family, I believe her. You're important to her, and at the very least, I want you to continue to be her friends -- even if you hate me for the rest of your lives."

Although they didn't say anything, Sasuke could tell that Naruto's words had gotten through to them. If there was one thing he could say about his friend, it was that he knew how to make people see his point of view -- after all, he'd saved him from Orochimaru's clutches using a similar method.

Of course, they'd already beaten each other half to death before it had actually worked, but still.

Other than the occasional warning to watch out for traps or patrolling shinobi, the group was completely silent on their way to Amegakure. There was nothing left to say; everything important had already been said, and all that was left was to wait and see what Neji and Lee would do.

Naruto, taking the lead, motioned for the others to follow them to a particularly large tree. After forming a few handseals, he slammed his outstretched fingers into the bark, causing the ground beneath them to give way and dump them feet first into a small, underground chamber.

"What is this place?" Sasuke asked, making a small fire by snapping his fingers. It looked like a small cave or a large hole, and other than the large amount of leaves and hay on the floor, there was nothing special about the room.

"This is one of the places Jiraiya and I hid while waiting for a chance to infiltrate Ame during my training trip. All sound and light is completely hidden from the outside world; this way, we can fully relax without having to worry about guard duty."

Neji lifted his eyebrows, mildly impressed by the description. "Hm, you're good for something after all," he joked, making a small fire with Sasuke's help.

The blond shot the Hyuuga a middle finger and removed his mask, breathing in relief at finally being able to relax. He plopped down against a wall and stretched, removing his cloak and using it as a sheet to ward off the cool air of the cave. The ground was soft enough to wear he didn't even need his sleeping bag, and reaching into weapons pouch, he produced a small pack of ration bars.

Naruto held the bars up towards his teammates. "Want one?" When they nodded, he pulled four of them out of the box and tossed them to the other men. "I wish they'd make a ramen-flavored bar," he muttered, chewing the hard, gritty bar with obvious displeasure.

Lee wrinkled his nose at the thought, eye twitching involuntarily as he bit into the brown brick. "Only you would like something that bad, Naruto-kun."

The blond lifted his eyebrows. "Hey, add the flavor of ramen to anything and it'll taste good!" he argued, taking another forceful bite of the horrid food. "I'm telling you, if someone actually invented them, they'd be a million -- no, billionaire!" He downed the last of the bar and took a long swig from his canteen, sighing as chalky taste was washed from his mouth. "Anyway, I'm tired. Night, guys." The others grunted their goodnights and assumed a similar pose, leaning up against the other four walls to form a circle around the campfire.

They slept for a good six hours, each of them waking up every couple of hours to check for threats in true shinobi fashion. Finally, having determined that it was morning, Neji sat up from his place against the wall and yawned, unconsciously smoothing his long, silky hair. After gaining his bearings, he set about the task of waking up the others.

"Nnngh...is it three o'clock already?" Naruto groaned, squinting through nearly closed eyes at the ANBU officer.

"Two-thirty, but I wanted to get a bit of an earlier start. We'll reach Amegakure at around three if we travel at a casual place, and we'll commence the mission at three fifteen." the blond groaned again, rubbing at his eyes with the back of his hand.

"Hai, hai, I've got it already." He stood to his feet and stretched. "I'm good to go, what about the rest of you?" Lee and Sasuke nodded their heads, both looking a bit tired but otherwise ready to go. They all placed their masks over their faces and followed Naruto out of the cave.

The group reached the village at exactly two minutes before three, and easily knocking out the Amegakure chuunins guarding the gate, they vaulted over the wall and headed towards their leader's tower. They were met with very little resistance; with Neji's byakugan, it was a trivial task to avoid enemy shinobi.

"Based on our intel, the scroll is located somewhere within this building. Naruto, Sasuke, you two take the basement and the first floor. Lee and I will take the second and third. Let's move; I want to be in and out in half an hour, maximum." They split up and began to search the premises as quickly as they could, not bothering to put things back where they'd found them. Ame should've been expecting them to show up soon, anyway.

After a nearly fifteen minutes of searching, Naruto grinned widely and held up a particularly thick scroll emblazoned with the Konoha Leaf symbol. "Found it!" he yelled, triumph evident on his features. A loud clattering from the floor above them cause them to jump slightly, and shooting the blond a venomous glare, Sasuke rushed to the stairs.

"Nice work, dobe. Now the entire village knows we're here."

The jinchuuriki scratched the back of his head in embarrassment, following his friend shortly after."Oops. I got so excited about finding it, that I...holy shit." Surrounding them were at least thirty Amegakure ninja, each of them at least the level of chuunin or above. Neji and Lee had apparently also heard him as they quickly appeared next to them, their postures equally tense.

"I take it you found the scroll?" Neji seethed, anger seeming to literally radiate off of his entire body.

Naruto laughed nervously and placed his hands into the familiar cross sign. "Don't worry, I'll fix it. Just be ready to run when I give the signal."

Lee lifted a curious eyebrow behind his mask. "The signal?"

"You'll know it when you see it." Before they could blink, over two dozen clones appeared around them, each of them sporting one of the blond's infamous special kunai. They all launched them at once, and before they could blink again, all thirty of the Ame shinobi were knocked out.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes. "Come on, now, that's just not fair. That move is way overpowered," he complained.

Naruto snorted in response. "Says the guy who can shoot black flames and warp space and time using only his eyes." He turned towards the others and waved them towards the door. "By the way, that was the signal."

As soon as the words left his lips, the group sped through the open doorway, being met with surprisingly little resistance. Then again, ever since the blond had slammed a Rasenshuriken into Pein's six bodies simultaneously a couple of years ago, Ame had never quite been the same. Without a clear cut leader, the village had degenerated into civil, fighting amongst themselves to determine who would rule the now dictator-less city. Although they'd recently worked things out, their manpower was still deathly low -- hence the reason he'd chosen to knock out the shinobi rather than kill them.

The group once again leapt over the wall and hopped into the forest, pleased grins stretching across their mask-covered faces.

"Well, that was easy enough," Naruto grinned, waving the scroll around in front of him. "We could've done this in a couple of days. Why do you think Baa-chan gave us so much time?" A simultaneous sigh erupted from the other three shinobi, causing him to look back at them in curiosity. "What? What did I say?"

Exasperated, Neji shook his head. "Nothing. Let's just get this scroll to Konoha and go home." With a still confused Naruto leading them, the young men hurried on their way back to their village.

------

It didn't take long for them to reach Konoha with the furious pace set by Naruto. He was eager to get home and get back to Tenten, as nearly four days away from the girl was starting to make him a bit antsy. He'd gotten spoiled by her willingness to let him touch her; in ways both good _and _bad. Sure, he exchanged the occasional hug with Sakura every now and then, but for the most part his physical affection came from his girlfriend; which, now that he thought about it, made a whole lot of sense.

Without wasting any time checking in at the front gates, the group literally phased into the Hokage's office, three of them gasping for all the breath that they could find. Removing his mask, Naruto placed the large scroll on the woman's desk, a wide smile stretching across his face.

"Mission complete! It was a lot easier than you made it seem, though." Tsunade nodded and took the scroll, handing it to the black-haired woman at her side. The young woman looked a little worse for the wear, and it was obvious even to the casual observer that she hadn't slept in a day or two.

"Shizune, see that this is put back with other scrolls -- oh, and assign a couple more guards to watch the vault. It's embarrassing to have something so important stolen by such a small village." The medic-nin bowed and grabbed the scroll, shooting a worried frown towards the blond. Confused by this action, he furrowed his brows and turned back towards his surrogate mother.

"Hey, what's up with Shizune-nee-chan? She doesn't look so good." Without answering his question, Tsunade turned her eyes on the men flanking Naruto.

"Good job on your mission. You're all dismissed; except for you, Naruto." The teens glanced at the blond in curiosity but nodded and bowed anyway. Before he left, Sasuke patted his friend on the shoulder as a small sign of support. Whatever the Hokage had to say must have been important given the serious tone she was using.

When he sensed that his friends were out of earshot, Naruto instantly stepped closer to the woman's desk. "What's up, Baa-chan? Another mission?"

Tsunade slowly shook her head, and before she could even say anything, he knew something horrible had happened.

"Tenten collapsed."

**AN: I'll admit, most of this was written after being up for 48 hours and is unproofed. However, you can't stop the inspiration when it comes, right? I bet when I wake up tomorrow (Or the day after), I'll realize just how bad of an idea this was. **


	11. Chapter 11

**Illegitimate Love**

**Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto.**

**Chapter 11**

Bursting through the doors of Konoha General Hospital, Naruto was the picture of fury. Roaring fires burned behind his eyeballs, fueling him deeper and deeper into a worry-induced rage. If not for that nagging voice in the back of his mind called common sense, he was certain he would have razed the building to the ground in search of his girlfriend.

Instead, however, he managed to pull himself together enough to approach the front desk, an impatient scowl on his face.

"Give me Tenten's room, please," he ground out through clenched teeth, body vibrating as he tightly clenched the smooth marble of the desk. To be honest, he was a bit proud of himself for keeping so much of his cool. The boy of four years ago would've run in screaming, tearing the place up until he got what he wanted.

Without even looking up at him, the nurse continued to fill out the form she was working on before he'd arrived. "I'm sorry sir, visiting hours are over," the young woman drawled. Naruto felt his anger spike.

He'd tried to be civil, and he'd tried to be nice. Once again, he was proud of himself for being able to form a coherent sentence given the situation. But when his efforts weren't rewarded -- or even noticed -- by the nurse, only one thought came to the forefront of his mind:

Fuck it.

He banged his fist on the countertop, scaring everyone in the lobby shitless and leaving an impressively large dent on the previously smooth surface. "I want the _fucking_ number to Tenten's room. Right. Fucking. _Now_." As if noticing him for the first time, the woman looked up at him with wide, fearful eyes.

Now, one didn't stay in Konoha for more than a couple of months without knowing who and what Naruto was. If he didn't tell you himself, you can bet your ass that someone else would 'accidentally' let it slip.

So it came as no surprise that the woman simply stared at the ANBU officer, mouth opening and closing in an attempt to respond to the outraged man. "I-I...y-you..." she started, now visibly shaking in his presence.

If it was possible, the blond grit his teeth harder. He was dangerously close to losing it. He could literally hear the Kyuubi whisper sweet, psychotic nothings of death and destruction into his ear, and if not for all of the intense training he'd done to control the bastard fox, he would have easily given in long before he got here.

He hung his head and took a deep breath, closing his eyes in an attempt to relax. He was better than this, and it wasn't the receptionist's fault that she couldn't answer him. Not many could stand up to his anger; in fact, the list consisted of only Tsunade, Tenten, Sasuke, Kakashi, and Jiraiya. Even Sakura would take a step back when he was in full 'KILL' mode, and she was possibly one of the toughest women he knew. So, in an amazing show of restraint, he bit back his anger to look the woman in the eyes.

"Where is Tenten's room. Please."

As if she'd been knocked out of a trance, the woman nearly leapt to look through the patient listing, hands shaking as she turned page after page of data. Finally, after what seemed like hours, she hesitantly looked up at Naruto and attempted to smile.

"R-room 137," she stuttered, still unsure as to what was going on. Before she could ask, the blond disappeared in a yellow flash. God was he glad that he'd put seals on every single floor of the hospital for quick entry (and escape). If only he'd had the forethought to give Tenten some kind of seal to keep on her at all times; preferably in the form of jewelry, like a necklace or ring. He'd definitely look into that once she got out of the hospital.

He reached her room in seconds, and without even bothering to knock, quietly opened the door and stepped inside.

What he saw nearly broke his heart.

The girl lying in that bed definitely wasn't Tenten. He didn't know what the fuck had happened in the four days that he'd been away, but she looked horrible. Her skin was deathly pale, and her hair was ragged and straggled around her face. Her lips were cracked from lack of moisture and use, and the normally subtle smirk that was ever-present on her face was nowhere to be seen. Tubes and wires seemed to permeate from every corner of her body, making her look like more of a cyborg than an actual human.

He approached the bed as quietly as he could, biting his lip in an attempt to keep from crying. Just what the hell was wrong with her? He almost wished that he'd given the Hokage time to explain rather than just rushing out like he had, but he had absolutely had to see her face for himself.

He fell to his knees at her bedside, leaning his forehead on the soft, slightly cool surface of her arm. "I'm so, so sorry, Tenten," he murmured, swallowing the mouthful of mucus that had developed in the back of his throat. "It's all my fault. I should've fucking been there. I knew -- I had this feeling that something would happen before I left, but I chose to ignore it. It's my fault."

Naruto gripped her small hand in his much larger one, squeezing it tightly in an attempt to comfort her. She probably felt worse than he could ever imagine, and yet he couldn't do a single thing to help her. Judging by her current condition, it didn't look like Tsunade could either.

As if on cue, the woman walked into the room, sighing as she viewed his defeated form. She knew how he felt. Having lost a lover herself over twenty years ago, she knew what it was like to stare at their still, unmoving form, unable to do a goddamn thing to help them. There was no doubt in her mind that he was blaming himself for Tenten's condition, and stepping a little closer, she placed her hand on his shoulder.

"Naruto, I know you're upset, but --" before she could finish her sentence, the blond turned a tear-streaked face on his surrogate mother, forcing a wide grin on his perpetually smiling face.

"Ne, Baa-chan, you can do something, right? You're the best medical ninja in the world, so there's no way you can't fix her up, right?"

Tsunade sighed and avoided his gaze. "Naruto, I don't know how to tell you this, but --"

"Then don't tell me." His face was screwed up in agony, and it was honestly painful to look at him. Although she wanted nothing more than to honor his request, he _had_ to know. Keeping him in the dark about the situation would only harm him in the long run.

"Naruto, listen to me. There is nothing more we can do for her with our current knowledge." Naruto couldn't hold back anymore. He let loose a loud, heart-wrenching scream, shaking the very foundation of the hospital to its core. He buried his tear-stained face in his hands, unable to believe what was happening.

He hadn't done much wrong in his lifetime. In fact, given his background and childhood, he thought he deserved more from God for all of the pain he'd had to endure his entire life. So why? Why was God taking the most important thing in his life from him? _Two_ of the most important things! It just didn't make any sense; why was he the only one that had to suffer? Why did it have to be Tenten out of all the millions of people in the world?

"Hokage-sama," he started, voice muffled by his hands, "What's wrong with her? Is there any chance of survival?"

Tsunade sighed deeply, crossing her arms under her chest. "We're not sure. Since we hadn't heard from her in a couple of days, I sent Shizune over to check up on things. She's the one that found her passed out on the floor. We've run diagnostics for every possible disease known to man, and all of our leads thus far have come up empty. There's a possibility we could save her if we knew what her ailment was, but at this moment, it's looking bleak."

Naruto slowly nodded his head, rubbing the back of his girlfriend's hand with his thumb. "So you're saying there _is_ a chance."

"Naruto, I didn't say that. I don't want you to get your hopes up."

"But you said there was a chance. I just have to find out what her illness is, right?"

"We've checked everything; this disease does not exist in any of our medical records. We have no leads, and Tenten herself isn't awake to tell us what she's feeling."

"But there's a chance."

The Hokage sighed again, rubbing her face with a tired a hand. She knew he was stubborn and strong-willed, but this was downright ridiculous. "Yes, Naruto, there is a chance."

That was all he needed. The boy hopped to his feet, blowing past Tsunade on his way out the door.

"Where are you going?" she asked, staring at his back as he ran out of the room.

Without turning around, he continued on down the hall. "To save my girlfriend."

-----

Although he'd talked big about saving Tenten from the brink of death, the fact of the matter was that he knew nothing about medical ninjutsu past the basic 'put a bandaid over the cut' stuff. Surrounded by scrolls and acres of empty space, Naruto sighed as he realized that it might be hopeless after all.

Just as Tsunade had said, none of the symptoms matched his girlfriend's disease. They'd been able to determine that she had a fever, cough, stiffness of joints, and just general aches and pains, but that wasn't very much to go off of; especially not for a brawns-over-brains type like himself.

Sighing heavily, he leaned back on the plush grass with a frown, staring up at the white, fluffy clouds overhead. Tenten should be here with him. There was no reason he should be enjoying himself alone while she was suffering in the hospital.

Surprisingly, though, the girl had actually managed to recover a bit from her disease. Just a couple of days ago she'd opened her eyes for the first time in a week, waking him up by leaning over and placing a soft kiss on his cheek. He'd been enthralled; for nearly half an hour, he could barely sit still, preferring to march around the room in excitement as he told her stories of his latest mission and smothered her with hugs and kisses.

Unfortunately, even though she was awake, Tenten could barely manage more than a smile or nod every now and then, and laughing was out of the question. Even speaking was rough on her as it often caused her to break down into a fit of coughs -- and more often that not, she coughed up blood.

He covered his face with his hands, letting loose a wide, unperturbed yawn. He couldn't afford to sleep; not now. Not when Tenten was fighting to stay alive in the hospital. He sat up and once again began to pour through the scrolls he'd checked out from the Hokage Tower, forming ten shadow clones to help the work go faster. If nothing else, he thought morbidly, he'd be a qualified medical ninja within a month.

"Hey..." a smooth voice called out from behind him, startling him from his thoughts. Before he himself could blink, two kunai appeared in both of his hands, leaving the scroll left forgotten on the ground. He slowly turned his head to look at his visitor through narrowed eyes, being careful to keep his weapons hidden from view.

"Can I help you?" he asked icily, gripping his kunai tightly between his fingers. He didn't like being snuck up on, even by his friends. Call it a childhood paranoia, but the people that actually _could_ sneak up on him didn't usually want to talk about sunshine and rainbows. He felt himself relax a bit when the girl's shoulders jumped, and slipping his kunai back into his sleeves, turned more of his body towards the girl to hear what she had to say.

"I...I was just taking a walk. You got a problem with that?" she stammered, taking an unconscious step back.

Naruto squinted his eyes at the woman, studying her features with curiosity. She was beautiful; that much he could say right off the bat. Her dark brown hair was tied up into two short ponytails, and her light brown eyes burned with mischievousness. He couldn't see much of her form beneath her loose-fitting, pink yukata, but he could tell that she kept herself in shape just by her posture.

However, there was something familiar about her. He was certain he'd seen her around town a few times, but then again, he could've seen her anywhere; he'd become so accustomed to ignoring the majority of Konoha's citizens that it was hard to recall anyone outside of his coworkers and friends.

"No, no problems. Just wondering why you'd be talking a walk all the way out here." The woman shrugged and walked over to him, a nonchalant look on her face.

"Eh, just felt like exploring a bit. Despite living here for years, I've never really gone off of my normal route. In fact, it should be _me_ asking what the great Uzumaki Naruto is doing out here alone; and _studying_ no less!" The blond's eyes narrowed dangerously, and he slowly stood to his feet to face her.

"How do you know who I am? Who are you?"

The young woman straightened her back and raised her hand to her forehead, shooting him a sarcastic salute. "Sir! Mori Nanase, sir! With all due respect, sir, you are the quote unquote demon of Konoha, sir! You are quite infamous within Konoha, sir!" Naruto frowned sourly.

"Ha. Funny. Well, as..._ fun_ as this has been, I have better things to do than humor a civilian." He plopped back down on the ground and picked up his discarded scroll, struggling to concentrate with her in his presence.

"Aw, come on, don't be like that, I was just kidding around!" When he didn't answer, she shuffled over to him and frowned. "Uzumaki?" The blond continued to ignore her, barely moving at the mention of his name. Unfortunately, Nanase was never one to give up so easily. "Oi, it's rude to ignore a lady. What if I was in trouble? Huh? What would you do if I was being kidnapped right now? Explain yourself!"

Naruto grimaced. He knew he should've just ignored her from the start. Something told him she'd be this kind of woman.

Behind him, Nanase frowned. What was up with this guy? She'd heard from others that he was supposedly the nicest guy in the world, and not to toot her own horn, but he should've been groveling at her feet by now due to her beauty.

...Okay, so she was tooting her own horn, but it was true! Most guys were eager to talk to her, and the rest passed out before they could say a word. So what was up with him?! It didn't make any sense! She leaned forward to look at his face, a bit surprised at the seriousness in his eyes.

"Oiii, Naruto! Na. Ru. To." The blond didn't even bat an eyelash, pissing her off further. If annoying him didn't work, then maybe... "Naruto-kun?" she asked, making her voice sound as cute as she could make it.

A mild, disgusted shiver went up his spine. For some reason, Nanase didn't know how to take a hint. He thought it was obvious that he didn't want to talk to her, but apparently, she was somehow unable to pick up on that. He sighed deeply and turned his head to look at her, only to jump slightly in surprise after finding that her face was dangerously close to his own.

"What're you reading?" she inquired, looking over his right shoulder at the scroll resting in his lap. His eyes widening slightly, he scooted a bit to his left.

"U-uh, stuff on medical ninjutsu."

Nanase's eyebrows lifted. "Oh? What for?"

"I'm looking for a cure to helpmy _girlfriend_," he replied, putting emphasis on the world girlfriend.

If it was possible, the girl's eyebrows raised further. "Hmmmm, even a guy like you can get a girl? I'm impressed."

Naruto frowned. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"I'm just saying that single-minded guys like you usually have trouble finding a girlfriend. Most women like guys who can actually think," she explained, smirking at the angry expression on his face. He was so easy to goad.

"I can think! I'm studying to find a cure for an incurable disease, aren't I?!"

The girl's face immediately fell, and she looked at him in near shock. "It's incurable?" When he averted his eyes, she slowly kneeled down next to him. "I'm sorry," she murmured, staring down at her hands. "I didn't mean to make light of the situation. I just thought you could use some cheering up."

When he didn't answer, she continued.

"You know, my older sister had an incurable disease. One day, she just started coughing and complaining about how much her body hurt, and the next, she collapsed on our living room floor. If only she'd managed to hang on for a few more months; our doctor said he was close to finding a cure."

Naruto's eyes widened. "Wait, those sound like the same symptoms Tenten have!" he exclaimed, hopping to his feet in excitement. "This might be it! Nanase, what's the disease your sister had?" When he saw her face scrunch up in pain, he quickly squatted down next to her, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. "I...didn't mean to say it like that. It's just that I'm so happy to finally have a lead. You know?"

"I know." She stood to her feet and began to walk back in the direction she came, alarming the young man and causing him to follow.

"Where are you going?!"

Nanase glanced over her shoulder and smirked, all traces of her previous sadness already gone. "You wanted to find out what her disease was, didn't you? I'm going to take you to see her doctor."

---

"Hmm. The cases certainly _seem_ very similar, but I'd have to observe her myself to be sure," the man murmured, leaning back in his desk as he thought. "However, if Hokage-sama can't figure out what's wrong with her, I doubt that I could do any better."

Naruto lowered his eyes, sighing in disappointment. He kind of figured this would happen, and standing to his feet, he held his hand out towards the old man with a smile. "Thanks for everything. I really app--"

"Are you just going to give up _that _easily?!" Nanase yelled, glaring up at him from his side. Naruto stared down at her as if she'd grown another head.

"Didn't you hear him? He said that--"

"That he _doubted_ he could do any better. He didn't say that he _couldn't_. There's still a chance he could do something. Isn't that why you were studying in the first place? Because there was a chance?" The blond blinked at for a few seconds, dumbfounded by her speech. Well, fuck; she was right. Now that she'd sad it, it made a whole lot of sense. He turned back to the doctor with a small smile.

"I hate to admit it, but she's right." The girl jabbed him sharply in the side, making his smirk grow in response. "If it wouldn't be too much trouble, could you take a look at her anyway? Of course, I'll pay you handsomely."

The man shook his head, smiling softly at the shinobi. "Nah, don't worry about it. At my age, I'm not really looking to make any money. I'll charge you half my normal rate; only because I want another chance to beat the disease that I couldn't a year ago. Besides, if I find out how to cure it, I might even get the damn thing named after me!" he laughed, standing up as he did so. He grabbed a few items and threw them into his bag. "Well, let's take a look at her, shall we? The sooner we cure her, the better!"

With a wide smile on his face, Naruto led Nanase and the doctor towards Konoha General Hospital, struggling to keep from forming a couple of clones and carrying them straight to Tenten's room. If it was just Nanase, he would've done just that; however, with older men and women, it was important to be knowledgeable of their physical health before attempting to perform _any _kind of extreme movements.

And that definitely, _definitely_ included suddenly appearing behind them and jumping from rooftop to rooftop at mind bending speeds.

Despite their slow pace (at least to Naruto), it didn't take them long to walk through the door of Tenten's room. Surprisingly, there were already a couple of people there; Sakura was checking her chart for something or another, and Ino was chattering to his barely awake girlfriend about some guy or another. As soon as he and Nanase stepped through the door, however, they were met with two scathing glares; both of them coming from the girls who were _not _his girlfriend.

It wasn't until the old doctor stepped through the doorway that their glares softened a bit, and their eyes turned to look at the man in curiosity.

"Don't worry, I'm a doctor," he said, holding up his medical bag for the girls to see. Sakura put down the chart and stepped over to the group.

"Would you happen to have your certification with you?" she asked, holding out her hand. The man nodded and procured a small scroll from his bag, handing it to the kunoichi with a smile. She looked it over and nodded, a wide grin of her own appearing as she handed it back to him. "This is great! If you think you know something, I'd be honored to have you take a look at her."

Although the doctor had been explained, Ino frowned and crossed her arms, strengthening her glare on the beautiful woman standing next to Naruto. "That's all well and good, but who's she?"

Blinking a bit at her venomous tone, Naruto placed a hand on her shoulder and smiled. "This is Nanase. She's the one that recommended him to me since her sister might've had the same disease."

The brunette stepped forward and lifted her hand towards Ino and Sakura. "Nice to meet you," she said, putting on a small smile. The girls glanced at each and then glanced at Naruto.

They both knew that the blond wouldn't_ intentionally cheat;_ for one, he was too loyal and caring to ever want to hurt Tenten. Once he found someone to love, he never strayed; Sakura knew this first hand. The boy had had multiple girls after his 'head' since he was a genin; Hinata, Sasami, Isaribi, Shion and hell, even Princess Yuki admitted that she'd snatch the boy up in a second if he was a bit older. However, he had never once shown any interest in them due to his love for Sakura.

On the other hand, they could tell that Nanase obviously felt something for Naruto. Not many people would go out of their way to help someone else, and though it was a bit mean to say, not many people would want to help the so-called demon of Konoha. Still, though, it was better to keep your friends close and the enemies of your friends closer.

They simultaneously reached their hands out and shook the girl's hand, giving her a wide, appreciative smile.

Yes, they would definitely have to watch her.

"I'm going to check on the patient now," the man said, drying his hands after washing them in the sink.

The others easily picked up on the hint. As Ino and Nanase left the room, the brunette squeezed Naruto's arm and smiled in an encouraging manner, raising and clenching her right fist as a way to cheer him on. Grinning widely, he returned the gesture, nodding towards her as she exited the room. When he was sure the girls had gone, he turned to look at the blond with serious eyes.

"I have to say, the fact that she's pregnant worries me. There's no telling what the treatment would do to her or the baby, and I think it'd be better if I talked it over with the Hokage before I did anything." The ANBU officer nodded and sighed, a little disappointed that she wouldn't be getting treatment right away. Still, he doubted Baa-chan would be against it unless it might kill Tenten or the baby, and the way things were now, he didn't think she could get any worse.

The man performed the usual checks; heart rate, eyes, reflexes, and tongue. He then asked Sakura for a fully analyzed document about Tenten's blood sample; something which the kunoichi was happy to give. After spending nearly an hour reading and checking her out with Naruto hovering worriedly in the background, he turned to the eager shinobi with a wide smile.

"Well, it looks like we have a match! She's exhibiting the exact same symptoms as my former patient, so I'm about seventy-five percent sure that it will work. The only risk that I can see is that your baby _may_ be born a week or two earlier due to the stress put upon Tenten from the vaccine."

Naruto instantly dropped to his hands and knees, bowing to the doctor in the deepest show of respect. "Thank you," he choked out, feeling tears begin to seep out of the corners of his eyes. "Thank you." He then hopped to his feet and began to pepper his girlfriend with kisses until she smiled and gently pushed him away; but not before giving him one of her own. Just as he was about to start dancing around the room, the doctor turned from packing his bag to stare seriously at the exuberant shinobi.

"Uzumaki-san, please don't show your gratitude until _after_ she's cured. Again, I'm only seventy-five percent sure that this will work; it hasn't been tested on a patient yet given the rarity of this particular disease, and I still need to discuss this with Hokage-sama."

Stepping forward, Sakura motioned for the doctor to follow her. "She's in her office. Since she doesn't have any meetings right now, I can you get you in easily." Nodding, he followed her out of the door; only to be met by an eager and curious Nanase.

"So? So?!" she asked, eagerly looking between them. when Naruto smiled and raised his fist, she shrieked and jumped into his arms. "I knew it! See?! What did I tell you?!"

"Yeah, yeah, you were right," he sighed, pretending to be disappointed.

She stuck out her tongue and jabbed him in the side. "You totally owe me for this. Take me to dinner."

At this, Sakura raised her eyebrows. There was a certain line when it came to hanging out with another girl's boyfriend, and Nanase was stepping all over it. "You don't really expect him to take you out to dinner just for referring him to a doctor, do you?"

The civilian rolled her eyes and laughed. "Of course not! But he is taking me to dinner for being such an asshole to me earlier." She gripped his arm and glared up at him, daring him to disagree.

Seeing that he had no real way out, the blond shrugged and nodded. "Sure, why not? It's the least I could for all your help."

Sakura's jaw dropped. Was he serious?! Did he _truly_ understand the implications of his actions?! If Tenten ever heard of this, she'd be heartbroken! She shot Naruto a vicious frown, But annoyingly, he was too busy grinning like a big idiot and jumping up and down with his new best friend.

Somehow, she knew this wouldn't end well.

----

Tenten groaned into her pillow.

She felt like shit.

And that was an understatement. Every part of her body felt like it was ripping itself apart, including her head. She'd never wanted to die so badly in her life; not even when she was eating out of trash cans and fighting alley cats for their food. At least _then_ only her stomach had hurt.

She placed her hand over her large stomach, rubbing it gently with the palm of her hand. She didn't exactly know what was going on with herself, but she was glad that she was still pregnant at least.

...Okay, that was probably the wrong way to phrase that. While she'd rather be done with this pregnancy, she certainly didn't want to lose her baby. She'd been reluctant and angry in the beginning, but now that she'd come this far, she felt that she deserved to have a perfect delivery.

She creaked her eyes open and frowned, wincing at the pain from the bright sunlight outside. Where was she, anyway? It was obvious that she wasn't in she and Naruto's room, and she distinctly remembered seeing flashes of most of her friends. Had those all been dreams?

"Ten-chan?" a hesitant voice asked from right, breaking her out of her thoughts. She turned her head to see none other than Uzumaki Naruto staring back at her with a worried frown, eyes red and bloodshot from lack of sleep. "Are you okay? How do you feel?"

Her face notably soured. "Like dying." When his own face dropped into a frown, she instantly realized that something was wrong. "What? What's going on?"

He sighed loudly and leaned back, rubbing furiously at his sleep-deprived eyes. "You collapsed the day after I left for my mission, and have been floating in and out of consciousness ever since. Everyone's been worried about you."

She groaned again and dropped her arm over her eyes. "How long?"

"Three weeks."

Tenten groaned again. Turns out those flashes of her friends hadn't been dreams after all. It also meant that she was due to give birth sometime within the next three weeks, something she was definitely looking forward to. She coughed lightly into her hand, instantly putting Naruto onto his feet.

"Are you okay? Here, drink some water," he urged, reaching for the pitcher of water resting on her bedside table. He helped her into a sitting position before gently placing a glass of the water against her lips, tilting it back enough for her to get a good mouthful in. "Better?"

She nodded her head and reached for the glass. "I can do it myself," she insisted, downing another couple of mouthfuls. She hadn't realized how thirsty she was until she'd had that first sip, and it didn't take long for her to finish what was left in the cup. Before she could blink, Naruto was already refilling the cup to the top, a wide, stupid grin on his face. She lifted the glass to her lips and took another large swallow, staring at him from the corner of her eye. "What?"

"Sorry, I'm just so happy to see you awake. I was worried sick about you." Tenten couldn't help it; she blushed. This was probably the first time anyone had ever been so completely honest and worried about her, and it was a strange but good feeling. She'd remember this moment for the rest of her life, and probably even in the next one. Still, one question burned at the forefront of her mind.

"How's the baby?" she asked, a little afraid of what the answer would be. When her boyfriend smiled, she knew everything was alright.

"He's fine. He's a little malnourished due to your sickness, but now that you're getting better, I'm confident he'll come out just as perfect as his father."

The brunette smirked smugly at Naruto. "You mean _she _will come out just as perfect as _her_ mother." They both chuckled lightly at their most common argument, for the first time in nearly a month feeling as if things would be able to go back to how they used to be.

He gripped her hand and squeezed it tightly, resting his forehead against her now warm fingers. She could tell he was tired. It was two in the afternoon, and who knew how long he'd been at her side? Not to mention he'd had to have been on a few missions to pay their bills.

"Naruto, get some sleep. Please. I'm fine now." He stared at her as if she'd grown another head.

"No way! I'm fine, I swear. I get all my energy from being with you." On any other girl, this statement might have worked. Unfortunately, Tenten had heard it all. She herself could bullshit with the best of them, and she knew a lie when she heard it.

"Leave. Now. Don't make me call Sakura in here." When his eyes widened in fear, she knew she had him. Mention Sakura, and he'd step into line _real_ quick.Reluctantly, he slowly rose to his feet with a sigh, shooting her as pitiful of a frown as he could manage. However, the puppydog look had ceased to work on her for over four months now. "Now," she croaked, pointing towards the door.

"Fine, fine, I can tell when I'm not wanted," he mumbled, digging his hands into his pockets. He leaned forward and planted a deep kiss on her lips, smirking when she frowned and attempted to smack him on the cheek.

"Don't kiss me right now! My breath is probably horrible!"

The blond only shrugged and backed towards the door, that irksome smile still stretched across his face. "Don't care, I love you anyway." With that, he slipped out of the door and closed it behind him.

It wasn't until he'd gotten halfway home that he realized what he'd said.

-----

"This place?" Naruto asked, jaw dropping in surprise.

Nanase grinned and pulled him towards the restaurant, nearly tearing his arm off in her eagerness to get inside. "It's alright, isn't it? I mean, you just got back from a mission this morning, and you got paid a whole lot. It was S-ranked, wasn't it?"

The blond winced. That mission had been pure hell, even with his, according to Sasuke, 'overpowered cheap as shit completely made up of unoriginal jutsu' special move. Not because it was hard or anything, but because it involved a lot of sitting, waiting, and stalking. Alone. Where he had nothing to do BUT think about his bedridden wife. His only relief had come when he'd been able to thoroughly kick the asses of the three A-ranked missing nin Tsunade had sent him to kill.

Sighing on the inside, he lightly pulled back on his arm, causing her to look back at him with a curious frown. "I don't really want to eat here. It's...kind of an important place for me. You know?"

Nanase's face noticeably fell, causing him to feel a little guilty about turning her down -- Especially after saying that she could pick any restaurant she wanted. "But...I already made reservations and everything!" she whined, poking out her lower lip at the much larger blond. "Just this once? i promise I'll never ever ask for another favor again. Pleeeease?"

Naruto roughly scratched at his scalp with his fingernails, agonizing over what he should do. He HAD told her that she could pick any restaurant, but out of the dozens of eateries in Konoha, he hadn't expected her to pick this one. This was the place he and Tenten had had their first date, and although he knew he was being a bit silly about it, he still didn't want to tarnish that memory.

Seeing his face, the woman at his side couldn't help but sigh. She knew it was selfish of her to keep insisting, but this was her favorite place to eat! Every other place she liked to eat was deathly expensive, and she only made the guys she _didn't_ like take her to those places. She didn't know when, but sometime over the past three weeks she'd really, _really_ started to like Naruto; hence the reason she was freezing her ass off in a tiny black dress and heels at the moment. A sudden thought occurred to her, and gripping his hand once again, she pulled him into the restaurant.

"You do take out, right?" she asked the man standing at the front register with a determined frown. He looked dumbfounded by her question but slowly nodded his head. "Great! Listen, I had a reservation here for Mori Nanase? I was wondering if we could trade our spot on the list for a spot at the front of the takeout line or something."

The man looked at her in astonishment. It was something that had never been suggested in his entire 20 years of working at this particular restaurant, and to be honest, he had no fucking clue what to do. Unfortunately, the woman standing in front of him pretty much made his choice for him. She slowly leaned forward to look him in the eyes, 'inadvertently' exposing her large breasts to his greedy eyes.

"Please?" That was all it took. Clapping his hands, he had a young waiter take them to the other side of the restaurant with explicit instructions to allow them to cut to the front of the line. Although he looked confused the young man did as told, and within ten minutes, they were already out and headed towards Team 7's old training grounds.

"Are you cold?" Naruto asked, noticing her shivering at his side. she shrugged her shoulders and smiled, shaking her head in his direction.

"No, I'm fine. I'll be good once we start eating." No sooner had the words left her mouth did she something large, warm, and soft appear over her shoulders, instantly shielding her from the cold. She looked over at him in amazement, surprised that he'd completely ignored her statement. "I told you I was fine."

"Yeah, but you didn't look fine. Besides, I have the Kyuubi inside me, remember? His anger and hate gives me all the heat I need." Despite herself, Nanase began to break down into giggles. The statement had had dark undertones, but the seriousness with which he'd said it was enough to make her laugh. Unfortunately, due to the cold, she also began to cough. "Nanase? Are you alright?! Shit, not again," he mumbled, zipping his jacket up to her chin.

"It's just a little cough, let's keep going." When he frowned down at her, she instantly knew her plan was rejected. Instead, he picked her up bridal style and turned back the way they came.

"Listen, our house is really close by. We can go there to eat, okay? I don't think being out in the cold is the best idea for either of us. Hang on." He closed his eyes to concentrate on the closest seal, and within seconds, he arrived at the front door of their house.

"...What the hell just happened?" the brunette asked, eyes wide as she stared up at the grim look on his face.

"Transportation jutsu. Handy, no?" He set her down and opened the front door, holding it open for her to go in first. "The kitchen's straight ahead through that door. I'll be right back with some pants." Before she could even protest, he was already halfway up the stairs, intent on getting his friend as warm as possible.

"Geez," she mumbled to herself, rubbing her hands together to ward off the persistent cold, "You'd think I was going to die or something." She walked into the kitchen and placed their food on the table, looking around at the large, cozy home. She had to admit that whoever had done the interior decorating certainly knew what they were doing. Either that, or they had an innate talent for it.

"Here," Naruto said, handing her a pair of Tenten's long pants. "I'm not sure how these will fit you since she's a bit taller, but they should be fine." Without bothering to leave the room, she pulled the garments up her leg and sat down on one of the four kitchen chairs, immediately setting about getting to the food. She was starving, to say the least. She hadn't eaten since breakfast for this one moment, and she'd be damned if she allowed Naruto to start before her after all the trouble he'd put her through to get here.

"Itadikimasu!" he yelled, breaking his chopsticks and digging in to his food. She stared at him with wide eyes, unable to believe that he'd beat her without her noticing.

"How did you--"

"Ninja secret." He took a bit of fried rice and made a show of eating it slowly, rolling his eyes and moaning in the upmost pleasure as he ate. "Oh, man, you've _got_ to try this Nanase," he smirked, delighting in the pout on her face, "It's the best thing _ever_." She stuck out her tongue and started in on her own food, finding that Naruto's comments weren't at all exaggerated. Either she was extremely hungry or that particular restaurant had decided to hire a group of five star chefs for the night.

They ate in relative silence, only speaking to exchange either food or ask if other wanted something to drink or not. After almost fifteen minutes of nonstop eating, they both sat back from the table with a satisfied sigh.

"That was amazing," she purred, stretching her arms above her head in a very cat-like fashion. With Naruto's huge jacket hanging over her tiny frame, the move looked almost comical.

"Agreed! I'll have to bring Tenten back to this place once she gets better. She loves this restaurant." Nanase's face visibly soured. Hanging out with Naruto, she'd actually forgotten all about Tenten. They were having such a good time that her fellow brunette literally hadn't crossed her mind. Taking a deep breath, she realized that it was now or never.

"Naruto..." she started, averting her gaze from the man sitting in front of her. "What would you do if one of your friends really, _really_ liked you?" The blond tilted his head to the side, shooting her a curious frown.

"Well, I dunno. I guess I'd have to turn them down."

Not willing to completely give up, she scrambled to keep the conversation going. "Well...what if you really, _really_ got along with this friend? Like, you'd never met anyone like them before in your life, and probably never would again. What about then?" She almost laughed when the young man's face screwed up in thought, but the hopelessness of the situation instantly snatched the giggle from her lips. She knew what kind of guy Naruto was, and she knew exactly what his answer would be.

"I'd still have to turn them down. Maybe if they'd liked me nine months ago something could've happened," he joked, shooting her a grin. When she didn't return it, he stood from the table and placed a concerned on her shoulder. "What's wrong, Nanase? Is there someone who's bothering you? If you want, I can talk to the guy for you."

The woman looked up at him with a sad, regretful smile. "You're too kind, Naruto." He was barely able to let out a gasp before a kunai was pressed dangerously close to the jugular in his neck. "You know, I was supposed to kill you over two months ago," she frowned, glaring up into his eyes. "However, instead of doing what my village leader asked of me, I decided to spare your life. I thought killing a ninja with your talent and skill would be a huge waste, so I began thinking of ways to get you on our side. A strong guy like you would easily be able to start one of the most prominent clans in our village."

The blond cut his eyes to look at who he thought was his friend. "Amegakure?" he asked, suddenly realizing where he'd seen her before. She was the same woman in the picture Tsunade had shown them all those weeks ago. "So it was you who stole the scroll."

Nanase chuckled under her breath. "Sort of. I took the scroll out of Konoha, but I didn't take it all the way to Ame. I had one of my lackeys do that for me." The ANBU officer raised his eyebrows.

"...Wait, something doesn't make sense. If your mission was to kill me, then why did you bother stealing the scroll?" Her smile widened a bit, causing the man's eyes to narrow in anger. "To get me out of the village, right?"

The brunette nodded, her grin widening even further. "That's right. More specifically, though, out of your house. Otherwise, you too might've been affected by the gas that nearly killed your girlfriend." Naruto's body tensed in rage.

"...So it's your fault she fell ill?" he seethed through clenched teeth, feeling Kyuubi's chakra began to seep into his system.

She laughed again and shrugged. "Eh, what can I say. Not many would suspect that she'd be poisoned by a completely invisible gas within her own home. The best part is, the gas was there before you guys even moved in." Naruto bit his lip to keep his cool, already hearing the bastard fox's voice telling him to kill everything and raze the village to the ground.

"How?" Before his eyes, an older, dorkier version of Nanase appeared, and his eyes literally lit up in recognition. "Kimiko, the real estate agent. I'd thought there was something off about you."

"Bingo! Wow, you're dead on tonight, Naruto-kun." She cancelled the henge and grinned up at him again; this time with a much sadder smile. "My initial plan was to kill Tenten, seduce you and get you to impregnate me, and after that kill you," she explained, an amused look in her eyes, "Unfortunately, I didn't expect to fall in love with you. It was then that my plan changed to 'seduce and kill Naruto' to 'seduce and steal Naruto.' Hey, that rhymes!"

"What about the doctor? Is he in on this too?"

The woman nodded her head, taking delight in the angry scowl that appeared on his face. "Of course! I had him administer just enough of the antidote to make her better and get your hopes up that she'd actually live. It was then that I planned to have him poison her again; this time, with enough to kill her instantly. I figured that after having your hopes crushed a second time would be enough to push you over the edge and into my arms. But, despite my best efforts, I realized that you'd have never gotten over Tenten's death, and as long as she was alive, you would never come to me on your own. So, now, the plan is to rape you and kill you right after. If I don't get pregnant, eh; at least I'd have succeeded in my original mission." She glanced at the clock on the wall behind him. "Oh, it's this late already? The doctor should be administering her..._final_ treatment as we speak."

As soon as the words left her mouth, Nanase felt her world begin to spin. Before she knew it, she was on her back with her own kunai pressed against her neck, Naruto literally growling at her from above. He knew putting seals in every room of the house would come in handy someday.

"Why?!" he yelled, hatred dripping off of the word like boiling acid. "Was it really all for your mission? Did you do all of this just to rebuild your village?!"

"I told you; it was because I love you. You're not like other guys, Naruto -- you're better. Stronger. You have stamina out of this world, and you're handsome to boot. I had to have you."

"So I'm just a breeding tool?! Is that what you call love?! If you loved me, you wouldn't want to see me in pain! Isn't that what love is?! Wanting the other person to be happy?!"

Nanase averted her gaze, staring at an invisible object on the ceiling behind his head. "You're naive. You won't be able to love or protect anyone with that mindset."

Before he could say another word, an out of breath Ino burst into the room, eyes wide and obviously panicked.

"Naruto! Tenten's going into labor!"

**AN: Oh God. What is with the insomnia writing? This doesn't really count since I've only been up for 20 hours as of now, but, eh. This is to make up for neglecting the story for so long. Goodnight.**


	12. Chapter 12

**Illegitimate Love**

**Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto.**

**Chapter 12**

His heart pumping furiously inside of his chest, Naruto nearly tore the door to Tenten's room off of its hinges. Traveling from his home on the outskirts to the hospital in the center of the village in such a short time took a lot of him, even though he was supposed to have near limitless stamina.

"Tenten!" he yelled, gasping for breath as he held onto the doorknob for dear life. He stood in the doorway and stared at her still pregnant stomach with furrowed brows, mouth opening and closing a few times in a futile attempt to speak. "You're...not having the baby."

Tsunade, Tenten, and Sakura exchanged curious glances before looking back at the seemingly disappointed blond. They didn't know what the hell had happened, but the boy looked horrible. His golden blond hair was hanging wildly over his wide, blue eyes, making him look more like an angry drug addict than the Naruto they knew.

Being the first to get a grip on herself, Tenten blinked and lifted her eyebrows. "Uh, of course not?" she said, staring at him with a confused frown.

At his girlfriend's answer, Naruto's jaw nearly dropped. "But, but–Ino said you were in labor!"

Sighing at his incompetency, Sakura slammed her hand over her face. "Naruto, labor can last anywhere from one to twenty four hours, sometimes even longer. Tenten probably won't give birth for another five hours, minimum. Didn't you read the books?"

Naruto groaned loudly. "I can't do this anymore," he breathed, head dropping towards the ground. He took a few moments to relax before he lifted his head to glare seriously at the Hokage. "Tsunade-sama, we have to talk."

For the second time that day, the women once again looked between each other. For him to not refer to Tsunade as "Baa-chan", it had to be something serious. Frowning lightly, she handed Tenten's medical chart to Sakura and followed her fellow blond out the door.

"What's this about?" she asked, crossing her arms under her chest. She was starting to become a little concerned about his mental health. With everything that had been happening with Tenten, the pregnancy, and ANBU-level missions, any normal man would be on the edge of his sanity.

He raked a hand across his weary face, pulling his long hair out of his eyes. "That doctor, the one who treated Tenten. Do you know who he is?! He's--"

"I know," she said, cutting him off before he could finish.

Naruto took a relieved step back. "You know?! Good," he breathed, face visibly becoming more relaxed. "Where is he now? Did you take him in?"

Tsunade frowned deeply, uncrossing her arms to rest them on her hips. "Take him in? What do you mean? He's probably at home right now."

The ANBU officer paused. His face ran through a multitude of different emotions before finally settling on angry surprise. "Wait, _what_?! _You let him go_?! After what he did to Tenten?!"

The Hokage held up a hand, effectively stopping his questions in their tracks. She briefly closed her eyes in an attempt to understand what the hell he was on about, but after a couple of seconds, she still couldn't wrap her head around what he was trying to say. "Hold on; what are you talking about?"

"What are _you_ talking about?! That bastard tried to kill my girlfriend!" Tsunade's eyes shot up into her forehead, proving to the man that they definitely weren't on the same wavelength. "He was in league with Nanase -- long story -- but basically, he's from Ame and he was supposed to finish Tenten off tonight. We have to catch him before he leaves Konoha!"

The woman's eyebrows furrowed. "Naruto, I don't know what 'Nanase' told you, but doctor Oonishi is very well known in the shinobi world for his proficiency in dealing with rare poisons; he's even better than myself in that area. Yes, he's originally from Amegakure, but he's been in Konoha for nearly ten years now. It's the only reason I trusted him enough to treat Tenten."

He stared at the Godaime for what seemed like hours, struggling to process this recent information. If what Tsunade was true, then... "She lied. Nanase lied."

Sighing in exasperation, she looked the taller man straight in the eyes. "Naruto, who is this Nanase that you keep talking about?"

Before the words were even out of her mouth, Naruto was already rushing back down the hallway, heading towards the torture and interrogation department of Konoha. "I'll explain later! Take care of Tenten for me!"

She stared at his rapidly retreating back and frowned. "That idiot." She was just turning around to walk back into the room when both Neji and Lee approached from her left.

"Hokage-sama," Neji said, bowing his towards her in greeting. Lee did the same, his face much more somber than she'd ever remembered seeing it.

She returned their nod with one of her own, fully turning to look at them. "I suppose you're here to see Tenten?" When the two of them nodded, she continued. "You have good timing. She just went into labor about fifteen minutes ago."

The way their eyes widened was almost hilarious, and she quickly stepped out of the way so that they could run into the room.

"Tenten!" Neji exclaimed, looking down at her from her bedside. "Are you alright?"

The brunette nonchalantly waved her hand in an attempt to disarm his worries. "Other than the occasional kick in the uterus, I'm fine. More importantly, where the hell have you two been?! I haven't seen you since we first told you I was pregnant!" Her smile dropped slightly as she spoke her next sentence. "I thought you two hated me for hiding it from you for so long." Taking this as her cue, Sakura quietly slipped out of the room to give them some privacy.

Lee quickly strode up next to his teammate, eyebrows furrowing at Tenten's statement. "Of course not, Tenten! We were a little disappointed that you did not tell us right away, but we were more upset with Naru–" Before he could finish his sentence, Neji jabbed his fellow ANBU officer in the side.

Noticing this, Tenten narrowed her eyes. "What did you do?"

The men avoided her gaze, looking decidedly uncomfortable in her presence.

"Well?"

Contrary to popular belief, Neji wasn't the leader of their team. Sure, he came up with strategies, and yes, he was usually the one to give out the orders, but everyone who'd spent more than ten minutes with their team soon realized that Tenten was the one who wore the pants. With a simple look, she could make both Neji and Lee bend to her will – a skill that she was also trying to extend to Naruto.

Clearing his throat, the Hyuuga shifted from foot to foot like a little boy who'd just been caught peeing in his mother's vegetable garden. "We..._may_ have confronted Naruto a couple of times about the way he has treated you."

"And what happened during these confrontations?" she asked, looking pointedly at Lee's nervous face. After being his friend and teammate for nearly seven years, she knew that he had a hard time lying – especially to friends.

"We...sort of fought," he murmured, glancing at Neji's disapproving face from the corner of his eye. "But only because he hurt you! We would never do something like that otherwise!"

Tenten sighed and shook her head, rubbing at the corners of her eyes with her hand. "I appreciate the gesture, guys, but I don't need your help in handling Naruto." She lifted her head to look at them. "Okay?"

The men slowly nodded their heads, looking much more remorseful than she had ever seen them.

Sighing inwardly, she put on a slightly reluctant smile, deciding that they'd suffered enough. "So, can I count on you guys to help Naruto and I when the baby comes?" she asked, throwing a bit of hopefulness into her voice for added effect.

Her teammates immediately perked up at the request, both of them nodding their heads to show their support. "Yosh!" Lee exclaimed, finally acting like his usual self again, "I shall teach her the ways of youth as if she were my very own!"

Tenten's smile froze.

"Let's not get carried away."

-----

Getting into the prison ward was surprisingly easy. Since Ino had just dragged Nanase there not even ten minutes before he'd arrived, she was able to get him to the Ame kunoichi within a couple of minutes, even taking the liberty of leading him down the long, dark corridors to the woman's holding place.

When he came to a stop in front of her cell, Nanase smirked haughtily from her seat on the floor. "You're late. I was wondering when you'd show up to finish the job. Now, come on, let's not dawdle. The sooner you kill me the better, right?"

Without even acknowledging her words, he glared down at the brunette, eyes looking more like cold grey steel than the bright sky blue they usually were. "How much of that story was true? About poisoning Tenten and trying to seduce me into coming back with you?"

The girl's grin barely wavered. "All of it. Don't tell me you doubt the words of your girlfriend's killer." She quietly sucked her teeth when the boy's expression remained unchanged. She didn't know that he could hide his emotions so well.

Naruto crossed his arms over his chest, eyes boring straight into the smaller girls'. "The doctor is a poisons specialist. He hasn't been to Amegakure in ten years, and there was no plan to deliver the finishing blow. You lied to me. Why?"

At this, Nanase's smile fully dropped. She dropped her eyes to her toes, wiggling them idly in front of her. "I have nothing to say. Just kill me already."

"Why did you lie?"

The woman sighed loudly, throwing her hands up in frustration. "I don't know what you're _talking _about! Besides, isn't your girlfriend in labor? What kind of boyfriend abandons his lover during the most important moment of her life?"

"Don't worry, I still have a lot of time before she has the baby. More importantly, why did you lie to me? Why do you want me to kill you?"

She sat quietly for a few minutes, absently picking at her toes with her fingernails. Every now and then she'd glance up to see if he was still there, and when she saw that he was staring down at her expectantly, she'd frown and cut her eyes back to her toes. Finally, after another few minutes of stony silence, she sighed again and lifted her eyes to meet his.

"Do you know what it's like being a kunoichi in Amegakure?" she asked, voice barely coming out as a whisper. When the blond shook his head, she continued. "It's completely different from what the women in this cozy, relaxed village have to endure. Most of us are trained from nearly birth to be nothing more than glorified prostitutes, learning how to attract, seduce, sleep with, and kill our targets. If someone needs a woman to get close to some influential political figure or village leader, they come to _us_."

Naruto's frown deepened, causing Nanase to break out into a sardonic chuckle.

"Sick, isn't it? Since we were trained to be exactly what every man desired, it's to be expected that we wouldn't know what it's like to actually be in love with -- or even feel affection for -- a man. The only ones we could really trust were each other."

Naruto shifted his posture and stared harder at the girl. "You mean your sister?" he asked, interrupting the girl's story.

She blinked in surprise but nodded, smirking slightly in his direction. "Hmmm, you actually remembered. Are you sure you don't want to leave your girlfriend for me?"

The blond ignored her question, instead sitting down in front of cell to look her straight in the eyes. "So the part about your sister dying from the same disease was true."

Nanase's smile weakened. It appeared that he also remembered that part of their conversation. She shrugged nonchalantly in response to his question. "Yep. She also made the mistake of actually falling in love with her target. Now that I think about it, the guy was a lot like you; A stubborn, headstrong idiot. Anyway, they killed her for abandoning her mission and the village, allowing the poison to ravage her body all the way up until her death. As was to be expected."

They sat in an awkward silence for all of five minutes, neither of them sure what to say next. Finally, Naruto asked the question that was burning at the back of his mind. "Did you really poison Tenten?"

She stared directly into his eyes as she answered. "Yes."

Naruto tiredly ran his fingers through his hair. It wasn't making sense. "Why didn't you kill her, then? Finish her off?"

"I told you! I fell in love with you! I'd been watching you two for _months_, and to be honest, it made me sick. Watching you hold hands, open doors for her, kiss her when she least expected it, and happily rub her beach ball of a stomach made _me_ want to experience the same things. I started to feel jealous, and that was when I came up with the idea to kill her off and take you for myself. I'd still be doing what the Amekage asked, and I'd have the perfect guy to boot."

"But?"

"But," she growled, annoyed that he'd interrupted her before she could finish, "I didn't expect it to hurt so much to see you cry. So, feeling guilty, I chickened out and decided that since I was going to die from abandoning my mission anyway, I might as well die by your hands."

"Why me, though? What was your mission?"

"Remember when you were transporting the treaty from Ame to Konoha? Well, a few our guys saw you in action, and there was this huge fuss in our village about Konoha's 'Yellow Flash' returning. To make a long story short, the Amekage wanted your bloodline for himself and ordered me to get it by any means necessary."

Naruto paused to think, mulling her story over in his mind. It was certainly plausible. "Why did you tell me all of this?"

"Are you really going to make me answer this question?" When his face didn't change, she lightly shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know. Despite thinking that I wanted you to kill me to atone for my sins, I guess I still wanted you to know the truth before you did it. "

"Atone for your sins? What do you mean? Tenten is alive."

Nanase dropped her head, once again staring at the concrete ground below her. "...I'm sorry, Naruto."

"What do you mean?!" he shouted, standing to his feet. "What else did you do?!"

"Having a baby is a long, arduous, and physically trying occasion. With her body as weak as it is from the poison, there's no chance she'll survive the delivery."

He paused to study her features, disbelief apparent on his own face. "Are you lying to me again?"

"I'm sorry."

Unfortunately, Naruto wasn't even hearing her anymore. "I don't believe it. Tsunade-sama said she was cured! I saw that she was cured!"

"And she might be! Just...not healthy enough to deliver a baby."

Naruto's face dropped into horrified realization. "You're serious, aren't you?" When she slowly nodded her head, he instantly began to form seals for the Hiraishin.

Recognizing the familiar movements, Nanase hopped to her feet, tightly gripping the bars in her hands. "Wait! Aren't you gonna kill me? I killed your girlfriend!"

He stopped midway through his seals, shooting her a sad, angry glare. "I can't. Taking your life won't help any of us." With that, he flashed out of the prison and headed back towards the hospital.

She watched him disappear with a scowl, eyes glaring at the spot where he'd been only a second earlier. "Bastard, he left me to rot in here forever. It's just like him to take pity on his enemy." Smiling ruefully, she leaned her forehead against the cold metal bars of the cell and closed her eyes.

"But, that's why I love him."

---------------

Slowly opening the door, Hyuuga Hinata stood in the doorway of the small hospital room, a confused frown stretched across her face. "Neji-niisan said you wanted to see me?"

Tenten smiled slightly from her position on the bed, right hand idly rubbing her stomach. "Hai. Come in."

The girl shyly dipped her head, taking a few cautious steps into the room and closing the door behind her. "I didn't think you'd ever talk to me again after..."

The brunette chuckled lightly in response. "I know. I didn't think I would either."

Hinata nervously fidgeted with her fingers, lifting her head to look at her former friend. "Why did you call me here?"

Tenten's smile immediately dropped. She stared down at her stomach with a frown, temporarily ceasing in her rubbing. "If something should happen to me during the delivery, I want you to take care of Naruto and the baby."

The Hyuuga jumped as if she'd been shocked. She stood there for a few, painful seconds, eyes staring in fear at her longtime friend. "Tenten?"

"Hinata-chan, there's a chance that I won't live through the pregnancy," she said, a small, shaky smile once again appearing on her face.

Hinata took a step back in disbelief, hands coming up to cover her mouth. She felt sick. "Tenten? Tenten-chan?! What are you--"

"Calm down, Hinata. I could still live, you know."

She stared at the brunette for a long two minutes, struggling to get a grip on herself. Tenten was probably feeling worse about this than anyone, and crying wouldn't help her friend at all. "Does...does Naruto-kun know?"

The brunette lightly shook her head. "No. The only ones who know -- or at least have an idea -- are you, Hokage-sama, Shizune-san, and Sakura."

"Are you certain?! Is there nothing that can be done?!"

Tenten smiled sadly at Hinata, once again rubbing her engorged stomach. "Hinata-chan...I'm tired. To be honest, it's taking all of my willpower just to stay conscious right now, and even now I'm not sure if I can hold on until she comes. Will you help me? Will you help Naruto?"

"Of course, but, Tenten --"

"I knew I could count on you, Hinata-chan." She reached out and grabbed the younger girl's hand, gripping it weakly in her own slightly larger one. It wasn't until something cold and wet splashed against the back of her hand that she realized the Hyuuga was crying. "Hinata-chan?"

Hinata launched herself into her friend's arms, hugging the older kunoichi as gently as she could. "I don't want you to die! You can't! I know I did some bad things, but Naruto-kun will...he...he...!"

Recovering a bit from her shock, Tenten wrapped her arms around the sobbing girl. "Naruto will be fine. He has you, Hokage-sama, Sasuke, Sakura, and hell -- everybody else to support him. He won't need me."

"You're wrong. You're wrong! Naruto-kun needs you more than anyone! You can't..."

Before she could finish her statement, Naruto burst through the door, looking even more disheveled than the last time he'd come. He gasped for breath once again, staring at Hinata and Tenten with hard eyes.

"What...what's going on here?" he panted, confusion evident on every feature of his face. "Why is Hinata-chan here?"

Sensing Hinata's fear, Tenten quickly worked to calm her boyfriend down. "We've reconciled. We're friends again, and when the baby comes, Hinata-chan's going to help. Isn't that great?"

His face soured slightly at her words. It wasn't the fact that Hinata would be helping him that bothered him. It was the way Tenten had said it. "Yeah, great." He strode over to the bed and gripped the older girl's hand in his own. "More importantly, how do you feel?"

"What do you mean? I feel great! Whatever that doctor gave me really worked," Tenten grinned, lifting her free arm and making a muscle as a show of strength.

The blond stared at her suspiciously. "Really?"

Recognizing the slight tension between them, Hinata slowly walked towards the door. "I...should wait outside." She quietly shut the wooden door behind her leaving the young couple alone in the hospital room.

Tenten gripped his hand a little tighter, smiling up at him reassuringly. "Naruto, I'm fine. I promise." The girl suddenly winced, clutching her stomach in pain. "Well, as fine as I can be with a baby trying to claw its way out of my vagina."

The corner of Naruto's lips quirked at her response. She really did look like she was alright, so he had no reason to doubt her. He let loose the breath he didn't realize he'd been holding and leaned his forehead on their tightly clapsed hands.

"Thank God."

Tenten's smile twitched guiltily. His tired and defeated form made her want to sink into the sheets for lying to his face. Squeezing his hand to get his attention, she shuffled over as much as she could on the thin hospital bed to make room for him. "Sit with me," she said, the phrase coming out as more of a command than a suggestion.

He lifted his eyebrows but complied, still holding onto his hand as he slowly eased himself onto the lightly cushioned bed. "Are you okay? Do you have enough room?" When her smile dropped into a frown at his worrying, he sheepishly shrugged his shoulders. "I can't help it." Just because he'd decided not to listen to Nanase's warning didn't mean that he couldn't worry.

Rolling her eyes, Tenten leaned her head against his shoulder. He reeked of sweat and earth, but having been in close contact with him every minute for almost seven months, she was annoyingly used to it. She stared down at their conjoined hands, once again finding herself amused by how much bigger his hand was as compared to her own.

"So, you love me, huh?" Naruto's body noticeably tensed beneath her head, causing a wide smirk to stretch its way across her face. "What, did you think I wasn't going to comment on it?"

"It kind of slipped out. Sorry," he murmured, feeling heat begin to seep into his cheeks. He'd hoped that she hadn't heard him, and if she had, that she'd overlook his momentary lapse in judgment. Unfortunately, Tenten refused to let it drop.

"Are you sorry because you didn't mean it, or sorry because you didn't mean to say it?"

Naruto turned his head to look her straight in her dark brown eyes. He knew this game. The challenging look on her face told him that no matter what he said he'd be fucked, so he quickly racked his brains for a third option. "I didn't mean to say it _at that moment_," he murmured, choosing his words as carefully as he could.

"So just when were you planning on saying it?"

The man paused to stare at his girlfriend suspiciously, noticing the familiar amused twinkle in her eyes. "Are you doing this just to make me uncomfortable?"

When her smirk widened into a grin, he let loose a loud sigh and moved to get out of the bed.

Still smiling, Tenten leaned forward and stretched her arms out in his direction. "Aw, come on, I was only joking. Come back to–"

"Tenten?" Naruto asked, head snapping around to look at her. The previous mirth on her face was replaced by obvious discomfort, and he rushed back to her side to once again grip her hand in his.

"Call Hokage-sama," she breathed, hand resting painfully against her engorged stomach. He didn't have to be told twice. Moving faster than he ever had before, Naruto rushed over to the door and flung the wooden panel open. Sticking his out of the doorframe, he took a deep breath and yelled as loud as he could out into the nearly empty hallway.

"Baa-chan! Sakura-chan! Tenten's having the baby!" He waited a few seconds for the sound of sandals on the tile to reach his ears, and after confirming that help was on the way, he ducked back into the room and began to try to calm Tenten down.

The first person through the door was Tsunade, followed by an out of breath Sakura and Shizune. Nearly shoving Naruto out of the way, the women crowded around his pregnant girlfriend, all three of them speaking a mile a minute in some kind of medical jargon that he couldn't understand. Finally taking pity on her former teammate, Sakura turned to explain the situation to Naruto.

"She's ready to deliver, but there are a few problems. First of all, given Tenten's recent sickness, she may not have the strength to properly push out the baby."

Naruto felt his heart thump painfully in his chest. It was exactly as Nanase had said. "So? Is that bad?" he asked.

Sakura rubbed at her forehead and sighed. "Normally, it wouldn't be. A simple cesarean section would be best in this situation, but the poison's antidote has an unfortunate side effect; it thins out the blood."

"Is that a bad thing?" he questioned, feeling a growing sense of dread. His panic increased when the pink-haired jounin slowly nodded her head.

"Very. A cesarean section involves making an incision in the uterus and removing the baby that way. With her blood as thin as it is, though, she has a high chance of bleeding out before the procedure is complete."

"In other words, she has to deliver him the old-fashioned way, even though her body may not be able to handle the strain," Naruto frowned, eyes worriedly fixated on Tenten's face.

Sakura nodded again, frowning at the frank words he'd used to describe the situation.

"Well, yes, but there's also a chance she will be able to safely deliver the baby. We'll help it along with a pair of forceps so that Tenten won't have to push as hard."

His face remained largely unchanged at her statement but he nodded anyway. "What choice do we have?" He kneeled down next to his girlfriend's bedside, gripping his hand in hers for the third time that day. Despite her best efforts to remain calm, her face scrunched up in pain every few seconds, causing her to squeeze his hand painfully in her own. As Tsunade and Shizune worked to put her feet in the stirrups, the weapons mistress turned her head to smile at Naruto.

"Why do you look so worried?" she asked, beads of sweat popping out on her forehead. "I have the three best medic-nin in Konoha working on me. I'd say my chances of survival are pretty damn high."

Her smile was apparently infectious as a large grin of his own broke out on Naruto's tired face. "You're right. Everything's going to be fine." He lightly squeezed her hand to add emphasis to his statement.

"Are you ready?" Tsunade asked, pulling on a pair of white medical gloves. Tenten closed her eyes for a few seconds before staring up at the Hokage and nodding her head. "All right, whenever you're ready, start pushing."

Tenten nodded her head again and took a deep breath. Gripping her boyfriend's hand a little tighter she closed her eyes and tried to force the baby out in one go.

"Careful. little pushes," Shizune instructed from her left, holding her left hand reassuringly. Tenten did as instructed, face squinching in agony. "Good job! Keep up this pace and we'll be done in no time." The girl nodded and attempted.

From his position to her right, Naruto watched the event in a state of disbelief. He admittedly couldn't see much from his position at her head; the large, white hospital gown she wore hid most of the action, but every now and then, Sakura would shoot him a grin and a thumbs up to show that things were going well with the delivery. With each passing second he grew more calm and panicked at the same time, resisting the urge to leave Tenten and see for himself exactly what was going on.

After a tense three minutes of pushing and breathing, Tsunade held her hand for the foreceps, smiling at the girl from over her hospital gown. "The baby's head is nearing the exterior of the birth canal, so we're going to help it along now. You're doing great, just keep up your pace and try not to force it all out at once."

When Tenten nodded her head, the woman carefully inserted the instrument into her vagina and began to gently pull on the baby's head, being careful not to bruise or misalign the spine.

Sweat was literally pouring off of the jounin's face as she struggled to deliver her baby, and grabbing a towel that was handed to him earlier by Shizune, Naruto carefully wiped as much sweat as he could off of her pale face, whispering what little encouragement he could muster into her ear. Finally, Tenten's hard work paid off.

"I see the crown!" Sakura exclaimed, glancing up at the couple excitedly from her position next to Tsunade. "You're doing great; a little bit more and you'll be done!" Both Tsunade and Shizune noticed that Sakura seemed more excited about the baby than the couple themselves, exchanging amused glances from their positions around the weapons mistress.

Unfortunately, their amusement was short-lived. Tenten's strength was waning by second, and although she was close to having a successful delivery, it seemed that she lacked the strength to finish the job.

"Come on, Tenten, just a little bit more," Sakura pleaded, shifting her glance from the baby's crown to its mother and back again. "You're almost there!"

Despite the encouragement from Naruto and the others, her body refused to listen to her any longer. Sweat poured off of her body in waves, and her eyes slowly became more and more unfocused. She turned her head to look at the worried face of her boyfriend, lips twitching minutely at the uncharacteristic seriousness he regarded her with.

"I can't do it after all," she murmured, voice inaudible except to him.

Naruto's grip on her hand tightened, eyebrows furrowing with increasing alarm. "Don't say that, Tenten. You're almost there! Just a little bit more, okay?"

The brunette shook her head again. "I can't," she said, loud enough for the others to hear this time. "I'm tired."

Sakura frowned deepy, moving a bit closer to Naruto's side. "But you're so close! One more push! Just give it one more big push, and you should be done."

"Really?" Tenten asked, eyelids drooping as she fought to stay awake. Her friend confidently nodded her head.

"Really."

She seemed to consider this for a few seconds, head dropping back on her pillow. Finally, she lifted her head for the second time and closed her eyes. To her amazement, what felt like a huge pressure removed itself from her lower belly, and a couple of seconds later, a small, pink bundle was thrust into her arms. The cord was still connected to her belly, and Shizine was busily going at the baby with what looked like some kind of large eye dropper.

"Congratulations! You have a beautiful baby girl!" The Hokage exclaimed, moving out of the way so that Sakura could perform the cleanup.

Before she knew it, Tenten was crying. She didn't really know why; she hadn't felt like crying a few seconds ago, but something about holding the thing that both she and Naruto had made in her arms was simply amazing. She looked over at her boyfriend to see that he was in a similar state of disbelief, and before she could react, he leaned forward and placed a gentle kiss on her lips.

"Thank you," he murmured, beaming at the mother of his child. "I love you so much. You know that, right?" She smiled through her tears and leaned her head back on the pillow.

"I love you, too, but it doesn't change the fact that you were wrong. I told you it'd be a girl." He rubbed the back of her hand with his thumb, staring at the baby resting in her arms.

"Yeah, but I was right about her having brown hair. I bet she has blue eyes like me, too. What should we name her?"

Tenten closed her eyes in thought. After a few short seconds, she opened them again and smiled down at their barely two minute old daughter. "How about Nana-chan? I've always liked that name, and it has features of both of our names mixed in." When Naruto's face froze momentarily, she frowned. "You don't like it?"

"No! I do! Really. It's perfect. Nana-chan it is." He watched a relieved smile appear on her face, matching it with one of his own. The words she spoke next immediately wiped the grin off of his face.

"Take care of her, will you?"

Naruto gripped her hand tighter. "What do you mean? You'll be fine, Ten-chan, I promise. Just hang on."

"I'm tired, Naruto. So, so tired."

"I know, but you have to stay awake. Okay? Concentrate on my voice. Remember our house? Our yard? We can even get a pet or something, like a dog. I bet Kakashi could pull some strings and get us a nin-dog. Nana-chan would love it. We'd be a great family."

Tenten slowly shook her head, a small smile stretching across her lips. "I can't keep my eyes open."

"Baa-chan! Tenten's fading!" he yelled, both hands now gripping her small, pale one. He watched as all three medic-nin rushed over to check on her, hands glowing with the green chakra that he'd seen countless times before. Unfortunately, it seemed to do little for his dying girlfriend as her pulse steadily grew weaker and weaker in his grip until there was no feeling at all beneath his calloused fingertips.

He lowered his forehead to hers, crying when her hand fell limp within his own.

**AN: -dodges-**

**This is the final chapter, save the epilogue.  
**

**Thanks to Amrun for Beta'ing.**


	13. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

Two lone figures strode swiftly across the worn, dusty path leading to the outskirts of Konoha. Their dark ANBU cloaks billowed out behind them as they walked, giving the illusion that they were floating rather than walking. One of them was a full body's length ahead of the other, and neither of them showed any signs of slowing down.

"Why are you in such a hurry?" one of the figures asked, breath coming noticeably faster than his partner's.

The man in front turned his masked face enough to look at the other. "You know why."

An exasperated sigh escaped the other man. "She'll be there no matter how fast you try to get home."

"Yeah, but the sooner I get home, the more time I have to spend with her."

Sasuke rolled his eyes from behind his mask. "I can't believe you just said that."

Naruto was just about to retort when a small, dark blur from the corner of his eye caught his attention. He lifted his mask and turned with a wide smile to see his four year old daughter running full speed in his direction, arms raised high in her signal to be picked up.

"Daddy!" she yelled, eyes bright and piercing as she looked up at him.

In one smooth motion he crouched down, reached out one arm, and raised the giggling girl up to his shoulder, planting a playful kiss on her chubby cheek. "Did you miss me?" he asked, knowing full well what her answer would be.

She threw her tiny arms around his neck, smiling from ear to ear. "Yup! Did you bring me a present?"

Her frosty blue eyes stared into his expectantly, and laughing on the inside, the blond raised his hand enough for her to see. He watched amused as her eyes intently followed his gloved hand on its way to his carrier bag, her tiny hands gripping the front of his cloak in anticipation. Just as he was about to reach into his bag, his hand suddenly froze above the clasp.

"Have you been a good girl while I was away?" Naruto asked, eyes narrowing with accusation.

The little girl eagerly nodded her head, gaze never leaving his frozen hand.

Narrowing his eyes a bit more, he fought down a grin and asked again. "Really?"

His daughter was practically buzzing with impatience. "Really!"

This time he did laugh, and fully allowing his hand to drop into his pouch, he rummaged around for a bit and produced a small, black-haired doll. It wore a light blue sundress similar in color to Nana's own, and a wide brimmed straw hat adorned its tiny head.

"Thank you!" she shouted, hugging the doll to herself. She then reached over to hug Naruto for a second time. After she finished hugging her father, she turned her icy gaze on Sasuke.

"What?" he asked, glaring at the expectant little girl. She didn't say anything for a few seconds, eyes still boring into Sasuke's. Finally, he sighed and reached into his own pack, handing her a second, smaller doll. This one had bright blond hair just like Naruto, black button eyes, and a pair of loose, red coveralls.

"Yes!" she shrieked, almost snatching the toy out of his hand.

"What do you say, Nana-chan?" Naruto asked, shooting a grin at Sasuke.

"Thank you! Thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you!" She hugged both dolls tightly to her chest, causing the Uchiha, despite himself, to smirk.

"I swear, she's gonna be a man-eater when she grows up," Sasuke murmured, earning himself a glare from Naruto.

"Don't say that about my Nana-chan! She won't be dating any boys. Ever."

Sasuke snorted. "Say that again in ten years." He glanced over at the setting sun and sighed. "Sakura's undoubtedly heard that I returned by now, so if I'm not back within the next ten minutes, she'll come looking for me." The way his face grimaced as he said it told Naruto all that he needed to know.

Somehow, he felt as if he'd dodged a bullet by losing out to Sasuke.

"Alright. You up for training tomorrow?" he asked, lifting Nana to sit on both of his shoulders. The girl squealed at the sudden sense of vertigo, nearly dropping her new toys in the process.

"Sure, if I can get away from the house long enough. Noon?"

The blond nodded and waved as his friend walked away. "Noon!"

He glanced up at his daughter and poked her in the stomach to get her attention. "Ready to go inside?" When she nodded, he walked towards their two story house at a leisurely gait, listening to Nana chatter on about how much fun she was going to have with her new toys.

The smell of something good cooking met his nose as soon as he opened the front door. He walked into the living room and pushed open the door to kitchen to see Hinata wiping down the stove, a dark blue apron wrapped around her shapely hips.

"Look, Hinata-chan! I got new toys!" Nana exclaimed, holding the dolls out for her to see.

Hinata turned away from the stove and smiled. "Did your daddy get you those?"

The girl shook her head, sending her chin-length, brown hair swishing across her face. "Uncle Sasuke got me one too!"

"Did he? Did you make sure to tell him thank you?" When Nana nodded her head, she reached her hand up and cupped the child's cheek. "Good girl."

"Thanks, Hinata-chan. I owe you one," Naruto said, motioning towards the playing girl on his shoulders.

The Hyuuga shook her head, wiping her hands off on her apron. "Not at all! I love taking care of Nana-chan. She's such a sweetheart."

Naruto's small grin dropped slightly. "Why won't you let me pay you? I feel horrible having you watch her so often."

Hinata shot him a deadpan stare. "Naruto-kun, I'm next in line to inherit the Hyuuga clan – also known as the wealthiest clan in Konoha. No offense, but anything you could afford to give me would barely cover my lunch for a day." When his smile fell a little more, she sighed and rested her hands on her hips. "Fine. If you're going to be so difficult about it, then take me out to dinner next week. You'll be in the village next Thursday, right?"

His smile returning full force, he nodded once. "It's a date, then!"

She put on a wide smile to match Naruto's own and pulled off her apron. "I'd better get home. I've already bathed and fed Nana-chan, and there's dinner in the fridge if you haven't eaten yet." She leaned forward to hug Naruto and stood up on her toes to kiss Nana on the cheek. "Don't stay up too late, you two." With that, she waltzed towards the door leading to the living room, turning around only once to wave back at them.

When the door shut behind his longtime friend, he stifled a yawn and looked up his daughter. "Daddy's tired, so what do you say we go to bed?" he asked, watching her viciously slam the dolls into each other as if they were fighting. She never was very gentle with her toys; probably a mixed result of her upbringing and DNA.

The little girl's cheeks puffed out into a pout. "Now? But it's _early_!"

"Do you want daddy to fall asleep on his feet and drop you?"

"No," she reluctantly sighed, resting her chin on his head.

Naruto held back a chuckle and walked towards the staircase. "How about I take you to the park tomorrow to make it up to you? Maybe your friends will be there."

His suggestion immediately perked her up. "Really?"

"Yup, right after I get done training with your uncle. Deal?" he asked, raising his hand so that she could grab it.

She shook the offered appendage with a smile. "Deal!"

He slowly walked her up to her room, listening to her talk about what she'd done during the two weeks he'd been away. It was all well and good until she mentioned that one of her little friends had tried to kiss her; when he took her to the park the next day, he'd have to make sure that those little punks understood the consequences of putting their grubby lips on his little girl.

Being careful not to bump Nana's head on the top of the doorframe, he stepped into her room and threw her down onto the bed, causing the girl to break out into giggles.

She scrambled up to the head of her bed and curled up next to her pillow. "Can I sleep in my dress tonight?" she asked, trying to convince him to say 'yes' with her large, blue eyes.

He was far too tired to try to force her into a pair of pajamas, and it wasn't like she didn't have a dozen other dresses that looked similar if not exactly the same; to him, anyway. Hinata was the one who did all the shopping for Nana since he apparently had no eye for style.

"Fine, but only for tonight. Tomorrow, you can forget it." He grabbed her thick comforter and pulled it up to her chin, tucking her in as tightly as he could with her new dolls. He then leaned down to kiss her on the forehead. "Goodnight, Nana-chan. I love you."

"I love you too! 'Night, daddy!" Despite saying that, she pulled her dolls out from below the comforter and began to make them dance on top of her stomach, earning an amused smirk from Naruto. He should've known she wouldn't go to sleep just like that.

He tiredly walked out of her room with a sigh. Now that Nana was tucked in, all that was left was to shower and hop into bed. For the first time since he arrived in Konoha, he realized just how exhausted he was. His legs felt far too weak to support his body, and it seemed like he was two seconds away from passing out.

Not bothering to close the room door behind him, he slowly shed his clothing on his way to the bathroom. He stepped underneath the shower head and turned the knob as far to the right as it would go, reveling in the feel of the hot water against his sore muscles.

He leaned his head down far enough so that his head was right below the steaming jets of water, and frowning slightly to himself, realized that he'd need a haircut sometime soon. It'd been a few months since his last one, and it was really starting to show.

After a few more minutes of just relaxing under the water, he washed, dried, and slipped on a pair of fresh boxers. The feel of the cool air against his now clean skin as he walked into his bedroom relaxed him even more, and he plopped down onto his bed with the full intention of going to sleep.

Alas, it was not to be.

"Daddy," a small voice called from his open room door.

Naruto stifled a sigh and sat back up in the bed, pasting on a small smile for the sake of his daughter. He turned the lamp at his side on to look at her and winced lightly at the suddenly bright light. "What's wrong, Nana-chan?"

The girl shyly walked into the room, both hands clasped loosely behind her back. Before he could protest, she dove onto his bed and sidled up beside him. "I want to sleep in here with you."

The man's face dropped. It'd probably take more effort to force her back into her own bed than to let her have her way, and quite frankly, he didn't even have the energy to walk at the moment. "Do you promise to be quiet?"

When she beamed up at him and nodded, he grabbed his comforter and pulled it over the both of them, turning over on his back to get more comfortable. He barely noticed when Nana snuggled up next to him, and he certainly didn't notice when she turned her large blue eyes up to look at his sleeping face.

"What was mommy like?" she asked a couple of seconds later, unable to hold in her question any longer.

Naruto's eyes popped wide open. He knew she'd ask eventually, but he didn't expect it to be so soon. He'd been careful not to leave any of her pictures out where Nana could see them, and he never brought Tenten up whenever she was near his friends. The only things she knew about Tenten was her name and the fact that she was in heaven. "Why do you ask?"

"I heard Uncle Neji and Uncle Lee tell Hinata-chan that I looked just like mommy today."

Hearing this, he snapped his head around to look at her. His eyes narrowed as he studied her face, and a second later, they widened. "I never really noticed until now, but they're right; you really do look like her." Now that he thought about it, her personality was also eerily similar. He reached into the drawer next to his bed and rummaged around for a bit, digging his hand underneath his clothing to find something. He pulled out a worn picture frame and handed it to the curious little girl, smirking when her face took on a mystified expression.

"That's my mommy?" she asked, eyes running over the photograph. It was a picture of both Naruto and an obviously pregnant Tenten, both smiling widely at the camera in front of their newly bought house. If he remembered correctly, it was Sakura who had taken the picture, claiming that it was a _must _to keep track of important milestones.

"Yeah. I wasn't planning to show you for another couple of years, at least. It still kind of hurts for me to see her face." He watched her face drop slightly as she stared at the photo, and furrowing his eyebrows slightly, he lightly poked her in the cheek.

"Nana-chan?"

"If I marry you, will you be happy again?"

The blonde laughed out loud. "I appreciate the thought, but I'm fine. Having you as my daughter already makes me the happiest man alive." He paused for a moment to gather his thoughts, letting loose a small breath through his nose. "Nana-chan, if you ever find someone you want to spend the rest of your life with, don't hesitate to tell him that you love him. Make sure you tell him as many times as you can, even if you feel like you hate him at the time. It doesn't always end up like it does in the movies; if you wait too late, you'll just end up regretting that you didn't say it sooner like I do." When she didn't answer, he looked down to see the little girl clutching the picture frame to her chest, eyes closed and mouth half open as she slept.

Naruto felt the corners of his mouth twitch as he stared at her sleeping face. "Tomorrow, I'll show you her photo album. I'll tell you everything I know about your mother, and what I don't know, I'll get Hinata-chan, Neji, and Lee to tell you. I bet they have dozens of stories about how great of a kunoichi she was, and even more stories about how she was as a friend. For now, though, let's get some rest," he murmured, more to himself than Nana. Looking one last time at his sleeping daughter, he tiredly reached over and turned off the lamp, enveloping the room in darkness.

**AN: And that is the official end. It's been fun, and though I'll miss writing this fic as I do Melody, I can safely say that I'm satisfied with how things ended–except for Tenten dying, of course. That part sucked, and the author deserves to get her ass kicked for that shit. **

**Also, all answered reviews from now on will be done by my beta, Amrun. Although I know it's probably a horrible idea, I'm going to trust her with my password and let her do what she will. **

_**God help your souls.**_


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